Sisterly Love
by Lightning Farron
Summary: Lightning's been kidnapped. Now it's up to Serah to bring her home.
1. Prologue:Kidnapped

Sisterly Love Prolouge: Kidnapped

Lightning Farron was walking home from scouting out the Holy Government's latest command post _they've appearing everywhere lately _she thought. "Mmmmph!" Lightning exclaimed as a wet

chloroform soaked rag was suddenly clamped over her mouth. Lightning quickly elbowed her would be captor in the ribs and front flipped ten yards forward and turned to face her assailant.

Already Lightning was feeling groggy from the chloroform she had been exposed to as the drug quickly went to work. Lightning groggily lifted her head up to see that her captor standing

there all smug and cocky was none other than Jihl Nabaat the lieutenant colonel of PSICOM.

"What do you want?" Lightning snapped venomously as she drew her gunblade Blaze Edge that is only awarded to the best soldiers, Lightning was lucky enough to be awarded this while she

was still a seargent in the army and ever since it has been her prize possesion.

"I have orders to kidnap you." Jihl said while looking the young twenty-one year old girl up and down. _God she's beautiful _Jihl couldn't help but think.

"There not so much orders but my will to see you bound and gagged." Jihl said taking in Lightning's body with appreciation.

"Only in your dreams because thats not gonna happen, now get out of my way I gotta get home to Serah!" Lightning snarled at Jihl growing more irratated by the second.

"Oh sweetheart your not going anywhere but coming with me, now be a good little girl and do what your told." Jihl said like a mother to their child, while drawing her cobalt blue sword with a

golden hilt. Lightning jumped at Jihl and swiped her sword crisply but Jihl parried and countered with a horozontal swipe which Lightning flipped over and switched her sword into it's gun mode

and fired five times. Jihl jumped back to avoid the bullets and jumped at Lightning and landed several attacks knocking the young girl to the ground. Lightning tried to get up using her arms but

they had no strength left and she collapsed to the ground. Jihl then walked over to the now helpless girl. "Whats wrong having trouble using those gorgeous legs of yours?" Jihl taunted while

kneeling beside her and rubbing them appreciativly.

"Fuck off!" Lightning said rather weakly as she struggled to get up but despite how hard she tried she had no strength left to use.

"Now now it looks like I'll have to give that mouth of yours a thorough cleaning." Jihl said as she took the chloroformed rag out ounce again. Lightning's eyes widened as soon as she saw it.

"No please dommmph!" Lightning begged as the rag was ounce again placed over her mouth.

"Nighty night sleep well hun." Jihl taunted as Lightning's eyes fluttered shut. Jihl then picked up the unconcious girl bridal style.

"Yaag this is Jihl I have the girl." Jihl said while stepping into the evac helicopter which flew off towards the direction of the PSICOM Headquarters.

"Excellent bring her back and tie her up. I've got a couple of questions for the young lady."


	2. Chapter 1:A Startling Discovery

Sisterly Love Chapter 1: A Startling Discovery

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Serah Farron awoke to the sound of her alarm clock. She turned it off, and quickly got dressed into her usual clothes of a short plaid skirt with black thigh high stocking's that showed

some of her thighs, and a white sleeveless shirt with a near transparent sweeper of the same color. Much like her sister Serah wears an armband identical to Lightning's with the only

difference being Serah's doesn't have the leather belt like strap at the bottom that Lightning's does. The young eighteen year old girl was about to leave the room when she spotted

her l'Cie mark in the mirror, quickly she tied a white shirt like cloth material around it to discreetly hide it. Once again Serah's mind went back to her sister Lightning, she smiled as she

went to go wake her older sister up. Serah knocked on her older sister's door but there was no answer.

"Lightning?" she called but still there was no answer. She opened the door to find find that her sister wasn't there. She also noted that Lightning's usual clothes: a white sleeveless

vest, brown sleeveless turtleneck, and a short brown skirt were not in her dresser and her Blaze Edge was also missing. _'Why would she leave? We were supposed to spend the day _

_together '_Serah thought "I guess I'll go look for her." Serah said. She then put on her shoes, and headed out the door locking it behind her.

_PSICOM Headquarters- Eden The Capital of Commerce 3:30am_

Lightning's eyes fluttered open only to be greeted with a pounding headache. She groggily looked around to find that she was being held in a cell.

"Mmmph!" Lightning attempted to swear but all that came out was a series of muffled moans. It was then that she noticed that she noticed that she was bound at the wrists and ankles

and gagged with duct tape. Lightning maneuvered her body so she was sitting against the wall with her knees brought up to her chest. She closed her eyes and rested her head against

the wall praying that her headache would go away. '_It feels like I was slammed into the ground under a five hundred pound sumo wrestler.'_ She thought just then the door to her to her cell

opened revealing her former superior Yaag Rosch.

_Streets of Bowdam 3:40am_

Serah had been walking for ten minutes when she had come to a stop when she noticed Lightning's Blaze Edge lying in the bushes. The young eighteen year old ran over to confirm it was

Lightning's when she saw the engraving: _call upon my name_. It was then that she knew it was Lightning's and a wave of immense worry swept over her as a nauseating feeling caused

her knees to tremble as she collapsed to the ground. '_Lightning would NEVER let this thing out of her sight, something must have happened.' _After a few moments Serah went into the

convenience store with Lightning's sword. "Um Paul have you seen my sister?" Serah asked with a worried expression.

"Lightning? No. How come?"

"Well I found her sword in front of your store and you know she would never part ways with it." Serah explained nervously.

"Maybe the camera caught something."

Serah and Paul went to the security room at the back of the store and watched the footage what she saw sent a shiver up her spine. The tape showed Lightning fighting but losing, being

put to sleep and kidnapped. "Oh I'm sorry Serah, do you want me to notify the police" Paul asked concerned.

"No that was PSICOM the police wouldn't be able to do anything." Serah said in an upset tone. "Can I borrow this?"

"Yeah, good luck finding her." Paul replied. Serah bid him farewell and made her way back onto the street and gloomily headed in the direction of Snow's restaurant hoping he could help.

Renewed with hope that Snow would help her get Lightning back she started running about a half mile out. "Snow!" she burst through the front door yelling.

"Yo." Snow said in a broski like way.

"What's wrong?" asked a concerned Vanille.

"Umm well umm" at a loss for words from the long run Serah put the video tape in the VCR. Before the tape started playing Snow went and grabbed some instant popcorn from the pantry

and started munching loudly.

"Stop it." Serah scolded while knocking the bag out of his hands.

"Shit" Snow said after watching the footage "Light's been kidnapped?" he continued, Serah just stared at the ground afraid to talk because she would burst into tears.

"That was PSICOM right? that means they must have taken her to Eden." Vanille mumbled.

"Well lets go to the Capital of Commerce and go get her." Snow said as he stood up.

"Wait we can't just walk in there and say hello and talk about the weather with them they'll kill us and besides we won't get far with only three of us." Serah argued finally finding her voice.

"Let's get Sazh to help, him and Lightning are good friends so he wouldn't mind helping her and I also heard he has a crush on her." Vanille said.

"Now where did you hear that?" Snow argued.

"From people." Vanille replied.

"Who?" Snow continued to pester.

"You don't know them" Vanille concluded.

"Guys shut up!" Serah said stamping her foot on the ground. "Lets get Sazh and Vanille see if your cousin Fang will help."

Twenty minutes later there was a knock on the door and Snow went to answer it.

"Wait!" Vanille yelled across the room "Snow before you they come in I have to tell you that my cousin has a very noticable Australian accent and do not mention or make fun of it."

"More of accent than you?" Snow teased.

"Shut up oh and don't call her Sheila got it?" Vanille warned. Serah opened the door and them in, Sazh was wearing in usual green jacket with khaki pants. And Fang was wearing a blue

sari like thing with a black bra-shirt hybrid like Vanille's pink one, light brown boots just below the knee and black panties hidden by her sari, she also had black sleeve like material that ended

just below her elbows and on her left wrist she wore plenty of bracelets like Vanille. Fang used to work for the Sanctum like Lightning and Sazh but left them when she found out they were

hunting Vanille and her friends, Fang is twenty-five years old and four years older than Lightning. Fang looks at Lightning like a little sister and is very protective, Lightning also views

Fang as a older sister and would go to her when she had personal problems she was to embarrassed to tell Serah or didn't want to appear weak in front of her and Fang would always help

her through and they became close over the years. As Sazh and Fang came in Snow tried to preoccupy himself with not mentioning Fang's accent so he thought he'd comment on her name

instead. "So a Fang where did your parents come up with your name ha! and I thought Lightning's was weird!" Snow laughed.

"Shut the hell up you surfboarding broski buffoon! your name is Snow it's no better it makes you sound gay you faggot I'm surprised you even got a girlfriend let alone engaged!" Fang

screamed. "Sorry Serah." Fang said as she glanced over at her.

"Um hehe." Serah chuckled uncomfortably then ran over to Sazh to prevent Fang's screaming from damaging her eardrums.

"Yo" Sazh said and they carried on a conversation while Fang continued to verbally assault Snow.

"Vanille why'd didn't you tell me this idiot was going to be here?"

"Well he does own the place thought you'd expect him to be here." Vanille replied.

Fang sat down with a sigh and turned to Serah "What's up why are we all here?"

"Well Lightning umm err was kidnapped by PSICOM and we need help getting her back." Serah stammered. Fangs face fell and her eyes went dark and she looked extremely upset.

"Little sis was...kidnapped?" she asked. Serah just stared at the ground.

"Ah fuck I was gonna watch the Rams game today, leave it to your sister to ruin my day just like back in the army she would always give me the shitty jobs since she outranked me, oh and

when when she got her Blaze Edge I never heard the end of it about how she had one and how I didn't sorry for having football on my mind everyday of the week so I couldn't focus but

jeez they were playing the Seahawks that week it was a rivalry game in the NFC West for crying out loud and when-"

"Sazh shut the fuck up no one cares alright." Fang yelled.

"Well actually I do." Snow said.

"Uggh" Fang mumbled as she buried her head in her hands.

"Guys lets go already!" Serah said while running over and grabbing Lightning's Blaze Edge.

"What are you going to do with that? did little sis teach you how to use it?" Fang asked.

Serah smiled and said "Yup now lets go!" and with that they all went outside to start there adventure.


	3. Chapter 2: Road Trip

Sisterly Love Chapter 3 : Road Trip

"No" ounce more Lightning refused to answer Yaag's question.

"What is your focus?" Yaag repeated, _God leave me alone how many times can you repeat the same question I just want to sleep this headache off. _Lightning thought.

"You might as well give up I'm not answering your stupid question so let me sleep." was Lightning's response to the question.

"How is it stupid and if you don't start answering my questions like a good little girl I won't leave you much time to sleep my dear." Yaag responded shooting daggers at the young lady with his eyes.

"Ooh aren't you charming is that the look you give all the ladies or is it just for special occasions how lucky I feel." Lightning mocked him.

"Shut up." Yaag said pulling Lightning up by the collar of her turtleneck so their faces were practically touching each-other.

"I'm a little disappointed in your interrogation technique I thought it would be much more effective but you were always lacking in that aspect." Lightning continued to insult Yaag.

"Shut up." Yaag said placing his hand over her mouth "Or I'll make that headache of yours a lot worse. I'll ask you again what is your focus?" Yaag removed his hand from Lightning's mouth to let her speak.

"Sorry but I don't know." Lightning replied sweetly. Yaag threw her to the ground and kicked her powerfully in the side, Lightning started to cough madly as Yaag kicked her again so she was

lying on her back, he continued to assault her by stepping on her stomach causing Lightning to cry out in pain.

"Is that your final answer?" asked Yaag, Lightning shook her head up and down quickly hoping that he would stop when he See's how hurt she is.

"Please stop" Lightning begged in a hoarse voice filled with pain as it continued to increase making her consciousness waver as she felt tears begin to well up in her eyes and see spots signaling

she was about to pass out. Then Yaag remove his foot and kneeled down before the young girl placing a hand on the back of her shaking form and proceeded to rub it to comfort her and ease the

pain so she could calm down. Yaag lifted her chin up so he could look into her blue eyes,he wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall. Lightning stiffened at the contact and a few

seconds later passed out falling into Yaag's arms with a small moan. Yaag continues to stroke Lightning's long strawberry blond hair gently as she sleeps in his arms _how could I do that to _

_someone I talked to everyday? how could I hurt my friend.

* * *

_

Serah awoke suddenly from a bump in the road. They had been traveling in Fang's minivan for a couple of hours when she decided to take a small nap.

"Where are we?" Serah asked groggily rubbing her eyes to get the sleep out of them. She glanced out the window to see they were on a deserted road.

"Umm about maybe an hour away." Snow replied uncertainly, he was driving with Sazh in the passenger seat in the second row was Serah on the left seat,Vanille in the middle, and Fang in the

left seat. Serah felt something wet on her shoulder and looked down to find that Vanille had fallen asleep and was resting her head on Serah's shoulder drooling Serah smiled and rested her

head on Vanille's and went back to sleep. Two hours later Serah woke up to find that the car was stopped. She looked around to see they were in the middle of the road and that she was the

only one in the van. A tapping sound on the glass brought her attention to the window to find a PSICOM officer tapping it with a nightstick.

"Out of the vehicle dear." He instructed her, Serah climbed out of the van and was led over to his car. "Hands on your head." He continued.

"Whats happening?" Serah questioned as her hands were put into handcuffs.

"Keep quiet." Was his answer. Seconds later a spear was stabed into the back of his right knee and as he fell to the ground five shots were fired into his torso and an arrow was shot into his

skull. Sazh, Fang, and Vanille stepped out of the bushes as Serah stared dumbfounded at the dead body.

"See I knew we should have just rode Bahamut instead of driving, then this never would have happened." Vanille whined while she retrieved her arrow.

"Yeah then we could have fun being shot at the whole way." Fang said shaking her head.

"Ha you sounded like Lightning there." Serah said finding her voice. They all climbed back in the van and continued on their way.

"Snow I'm a little dissapointed in you." Serah stated as the car was silent.

"What why?" Snow asked confused to Serah's sudden statement.

"Um well you didn't do anything to save me when everybody else did." Serah said pretending to be hurt.

"Well um it's not my fault! Fang wouldn't let me." Snow complained pointing a finger at Fang accusingly.

"Whatever." Fang muttered, about an hour later they appeared to the barricade out front of Eden.

"Park off to the side in the bushes." Fang instructed as Snow pulled over. The checkpoint was heavily guarded with about 10-12 PSICOM soldiers and two guard towers with big machine guns.

"Okay I'll go ahead and scout things out you four stay hear and keep out of sight, I'll be back in a few minutes." Fang said hurriedly.

"Wait where is the PSICOM base?" Snow asked. Fang sighed and turned around to face him.

"It's not any of the big buildings, it's a gigantic underground complex accessed by way of elevator in one of the smaller buildings. My guess is their holding Lightning in the deepest area in solitary

confinement. It won't be easy to get her but we have to I'll do it alone if I have to I'm not going to lose her." Fang said turning away from the others.

"Fang your not the only one who wants to save her, now hurry up she's waiting." Snow said, and for ounce Fang didn't insult him.

"Alright." Fang said as she headed in the direction of the enemy checkpoint.

* * *

Lightning woke up to find that she was no longer tied up and lying in a rather comfortable bed, she looks around the room which is a sterile white colour both walls and the tiled floor.

The bed is on the right side and on the left side is a small leather couch, then Lightning's eyes focus on the desk at the end of the room where Yaag is seated watching her take in the room.

"So how do like my office?" He asks as Lightning nervously looks him in the eye before trying to stand up.

"Whoa lay back down I gave you quite a beating I don't think you can stand." Yaag says pushing her back down onto the bed, Lightning doesn't put up a fight as she turns away from him.

"How are you feeling?" ounce again Yaag asks a question trying to get her to talk.

"Sore." Was Lightning's quiet response, it didn't take a rocket scientist to find out that Yaag had intimidated the younger girl, and she wouldn't even look him in the eye.

"Lightning." Yaag starts but as he puts his hand on her shoulder she flinches and looks away. _W-whats wrong with me why am I scared of him. _Lightning thinks as she tries to calm her nerves.

Yaag grabbed Lightning's chin and tilted it up and turned her head to face him "Listen I just want to say that I didn't mean to hurt you like that I was just doing my job so...I'm sorry."

Lightning who held his gaze the whole time muttered "I understand, but why am I in your office?" she questioned curiously.

"Well with you unconcious and all I didn't trust my soldiers and thought that thery would have some fun with you." Yaag said, Lightning grimaced and responded.

"Well thank you." Yaag looked at his clock behind his desk and noticed it was time for him to leave on an assignment.

"Hands behind your back Light, I can't leave you hear all alone and free." Lightning complied putting her hands behind her back, after he was done Yaag patted her head and said

"Now you be a good girl and stay put understand?"

"But to make sure you don't I have to be careful you always were crafty." Yaag said as he took out a collar and locked it around Lightning's neck and tied it to the bedpost.

"Yaag please this thing is tight." Lightning begged as she saw him take out a cloth and some tape, _fuck _she thought as she squirmed in her bonds.

"Stay still, now open your mouth and say ahh." Yaag said balling up the cloth before holding it in front of her face.

"I didn't know I was at the dentist's." Lightning said with a smile before opening her mouth and saying ahh.

"Mmmph!" Lightning groaned as the cloth was shoved into her mouth and the tape sealed her lips _damn you Yaag _she thought but all that came out was an embarrassing

"Mmmph gmff nmmph" Lightning hung her head as she ounce again realized her helplessless with a test of the collar which immobilized and caused her to choke and cough into the gag

Yaag then proceeded to tie a piece of cloth around her eyes forming a blindfold, which Lightning shook her head violently but to no avail as it held steady, and with a slump of her shoulders Lightning was defeated and she knew it.

"I'll see you soon." Yaag said with a wave as he walked out, leaving Lightning with her thoughts _I gotta get out of here _was all that she thought over and over as she laid her head down to get

some much needed rest.


	4. Chapter 3: Saviours

Sisterly Love Chapter 3: Saviours

Fang peeked around the corner of the wall to see an armed patrol of six PSICOM guards came walking towards her _thats the fifth one so far this place is on maximum security they must be expecting _

_us _Fang thought as she quickly made her way across the street and into a dark corner. She waited for the patrol to pass and then continued making her way back to the others. Ten minutes later

she approached the four sitting on the grass looking extremely bored.

"Well it's about time you showed up I thought you were a goner." Vanille said to her cousin from her laying position as Fang took a seat.

"It doesn't look to good there on maximum lock down but it seems sloppy we should be able to sneak by." Fang told the group and watched as Serah examined Lightning's Blaze Edge.

"Then lets go." Serah said looking up from the sword and into Fang's eyes. Fang nodded and they all stood up and made their way over to the stone wall blocking their path.

"How do you expect me to get up there I'm a pretty big guy." Snow complained as Vanille just hopped up it like a monkey. Minutes later they were on the other side looking out for patrols as they

made their way over to the secret PSICOM Headquarters which looked like a regular business building.

"It's locked." Serah stated as she attempted to open the back door. Vanille bounded over to a window accessible by climbing the adjacent building.

"Wait here fellas I'm on the case." the cheery girl smiled as she began scaling the building which was like a mountain compared to her size, a couple minutes later she made a jump onto the roof

where she cautiously opened the window and peered inside. Then Vanille gave the group the thumbs up sign and silently jumped down behind enemy lines, Vanille scanned the room quickly

darting over to the locked door but before she could open it a guard came in only to be met with a arrow in the forehead as he dropped silently to the floor. Vanille quickly opened the door and

ushered the others in "quick! Snow hide his body." she said quickly as Snow ran over and and threw the body in a nearby garbage disposal.

"Alright now Fangy! wheres the secret entrance?" Vanille asked cheerfully using her older cousin's much hated nick name.

"In the furnace room." Fang said as she took the lead towards the secret passage, two quick turns and they were there.

"This is a stupid place for a hidden passage." Snow complained, as Fang shot him an angry look.

"_Touchdown Rams!" _everyone turned to Sazh upon hearing the electronic device.

"Yes!" Sazh cheered while fist pumping oblivious to the looks everyone was giving him "21-14 with two minutes to go all right!" he continued.

"Sazh shut up already." Fang snapped, as she put her key she kept from her time in the sanctum in a hidden door and ushered the rest in.

* * *

Lightning was exhausted she had been lying there trying to sleep for a couple of hours now but to no avail was still wide awake _damn Yaag where the hell are you _she thought helplessly bored

out of her mind. Then her thoughts went to Serah thinking about her precious little sister made her feel sad not being with her knowing that she is worried out of her mind didn't help one bit.

Lightning let out a sigh into the tape as her fatigue caught up with her and she fell asleep.

* * *

After about an hour of traversing the passageway Serah became lost in her thoughts about Lightning _I wonder how she's feeling God she makes me worry so much! I'll have to give her an earfull_

_when we save her._"Serah?" Snow's voice snapped her out of her thoughts "keep worrying like that and you'll get an ulcer." Serah gave him a look and said

"I'm not an old lady Snow." Snow just chuckled and the two continued to follow Fang in silence. After a few moments Serah looked up at Snow and asked

"Do you think we'll find her? do you think she's alright? I can't live without her." Serah felt tears beggining to well up in her eyes.

"Of course we will! plus she can take care of herself." Snow stated wrapping his arms around Serah as she silently wept.

* * *

Lightning was woken up by the sound of the door opening and closing, she heard armoured footsteps approach her and seconds later the blindfold was removed. Lightning blinked her eyes

rapidly as they were assaulted by the sudden light after so much darkness. _Oh just a simple grunt _Lightning thought _This is my chance to escape_ she innocently looked up at the armoured man

her eyes silently begging him to untie her. After a few moments of the man ogling her gorgeous body he proceeded to untie her _Thats it are all men this easy?_ she couldn't help but think at his

stupidity. "Ahh!" Lightning gasped as the tape was ripped off her mouth, she watched him untie her legs after thoroughly rubbing them then he freed her hands.

"Um thanks?" Lightning said her voice hoarse from the tight collar "Can you please take this off it's killing me." Lightning pleaded with the grunt.

"Sure." the man said as he leaned in towards her, Lightning smiled sweetly as the man took off her collar. The second it came off her throat she leapt at him and knocked him to the ground with a

swift kick to the head, but the man was allot tougher than she thought as he quickly jumped up and when Lightning went to punch him in the face he caught her hand and twisted her arm

behind her back, Lightning grit her teeth as she was slammed into the wall still not fully recovered from her beating the air rushed out of her lungs leaving her momentarily immobilized.

"Thought I was that easy huh? than I guess your as naive as you look." he taunted as he held her against the wall. Finally getting her breath back Lightning put up a struggle but got no where

he was too strong. Lightning hung her head in defeat and when the soldier saw this he spun her around to face her.

"So you ready to do what I say young lady?" he mocked, Lightning's eyes shot up blazing with anger.

"No!" she snarled as she brought her knee up with as much power as she could right into his groin. The grunt fell to the ground groaning Lightning wasted no time in knocking him out.

_Okay I'm one step closer to getting out of here _Lightning thought as she rested her hands on her knees to catch her breath before running out the door.

* * *

Fang had just removed the cover from the passage before they heard and saw a platoon of PSICOM soldiers running right past them.

"Looks like little sister got tired of waitingaround for us." Fang said with a smile as the others climbed out of the tunnel.

"Well lets go she has to be in that direction." Serah said while running after the soldiers. The rest of the group followed as they quickly avoided the enemy guards while keeping a fast pace.

After a series of complicated turns through the labyrinth known as the PSICOM headquarters they turn one last corner and saw.

* * *

It was only a couple of seconds before the guards found out that Lightning had escaped and she could already hear their distant footsteps pounding against the floor.

Despite the aches and pain her sore body continued to run as fast as it could carry her_, run bitch run_ is all that went through her mind but one thing was certain and that is that she does NOT

want them to catch her again. Lightning made a quick left and was met by a wall of PSICOM elites, Lightning came to a quick halt, normally if she wasn't hurt she could easily jump and flip over

them but not in her current condition. After a few seconds the guards who were pursuing her came to a stop and blocked her way back. Lightning grasped her pendant that was around her neck

ducked her head and squeezed it, she normally did this when she is nervous. Suddenly Lightning thought of an idea and started fishing around in her bag strapped to her left leg.

"FREEZE!" one of the guards shouted trying to intimidate her but she kept trying until she felt the smooth surface of her Odin Gem.

"Raise your hands!" another guard shouted, Lightning obeyed raising her hands while keeping the precious gem hidden in her grasp.

"On your knees!" the first guard shouted, _whats with all the shouting they look like idiots doing that. _Lightning thought as she got on her knees. Then one of the PSICOM elites began to walk

towards her, and as he neared, Lightning carefully rolled the Gem in her hand and pierced the center with her fingernail. A bright pink flash blinded the PSICOM elite's as Lightning's Eidolon

Odin quickly jumped into battle breaking his sword in half and handing one to Lightning. Just then Serah turned the corner to see her older sister surrounded by an overwhelming number of

enemies. "Lightning!" she screamed as Lightning began to fight off the enemy forces, from behind Serah, Sazh began firing rounds into the soldiers making some drop with expertly aimed

shots. Snow started pounding away at the crowd of enemies with his fists as Vanille started casting elemental magic on the soldiers, Fang jumped in with Serah and the two began slicing their

way towards Lightning who continued to fight despite her banged up body. After minutes of fighting the man from before who Lightning escaped from was able to sneak up on the unsuspecting

girl and give he a swift blow to the back of the head knocking her out cold. At this time Fang and Serah had just busted through the wall of enemies and saw the man about to finish Lightning

off but before he could do it Serah plunged Blaze Edge into his cold cruel heart. Fang quickly scooped Lightning up into her arms and began running back to her battling allies.

"Let's go!" she shouted to the others as they began running back to the passage, when they got their they full out sprinted to the end and quickly got to the outskirts of Eden.

After they were out of harms deadly reach Fang decided they should camp out in the nearby forest, as they set up camp with supplys Snow ram back and got from Fang's van

Fang put Lightning in the tent and sat by her sleeping back watching her sleep.

"Is she alright?" Serah asked the older girl as she came in from the campfire outdoor and sat beside her watching her older sister's sleeping form.

"Yeah, she's just unconcious I can't believe we got her out of there." Fang said as she began to pet Lightning's long hair.

"When will she wake up?" Serah asked another question, Fang turned to her and replied

"Soon, I'll leave you two alone for some privacy." She told Serah as she got up and went to sit by the fire. Serah looked at Lightning before giving her a big long hug as she whispered into

her ear "I love you big sister."


	5. Chapter 4: Sisterly Love

Sisterly Love Chapter 4: Sisterly Love

Lightning was waken up by the sound of a crackling fire. She quickly sat up but regretted doing that action from the sharp pain throughout her whole body. Lightning rubbed her eyes attempting to

get the sleep out of her eyes before looking around her to find she was in a tent. The pinked haired women looked out of the entrance to see a lone figure sitting by a fire. Lightning groggily got up

and silently made her way over to the person when she noticed it was her little sister Lightning wrapped her arms around her in a weak hug, she would have liked to hug her tighter but it would

hurt her body to do it. "Lightning?" Serah asked as she rested her head back on her sisters shoulder.

"Yes Serah." Lightning responded her voice still hoarse from the collar and to add to it she now had a sore throat. Serah turned around to face her before smiling a smile that lit up the night sky.

"Lightning!" Serah squeeled as she hugged her back tightly, Lightning coughed and replied.

"Hey not so tight I'm hurting here!" she said while smiling a rare smile, Serah loosened her grip and leaned back to look her in the face.

"Whats wrong with your voice?" she asked as Lightning fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Well um when they were holding me captive they put this very tight collar on and..." Lightning stutterd out.

"It's okay you don't have to talk about it." Serah said seeing Lightning didn't want to tell her. "Here I think your wondering where this is." Serah said as she handed Lightning her precious

Blaze Edge. Lightning took it and smiled while loking it over, "You took good care of it." she stated as she checked every detail of it.

"Of course I did!" Serah said, after that they sat in silence for a few moments. "I missed you." Serah said her voice uncharecteristcly quiet.

"I missed you too." Lightning replied her voice just as quiet. "Thank you Serah. If it wasn't for you I would never of made it out alive." Lightning admitted looking at the ground.

"It wasn't only me." Serah said looking up at her "I had help from Snow, Vanille, Fang, and your boyfriend Sazh." Serah teased and giggled whn she saw her sister blush furiously.

"He's not my boyfriend Serah! were just good friends!" Lightning defended herself while Serah giggled at her denial.

"Then tell him that, you can't keep this up Light, he really likes you." Serah said while seeing Lightning's eyes go back to stare at the ground.

"I can't." Is all Lightning could say on the subject. She then looked to see her sister shivering, she then took off her white vest and put it over Serah's shoulders.

"Not really dressed for the weather huh?" Lightning teased her, while ruffling Serah's hair.

"Ha! thats funny look at you! your half naked out hear with your short mini-skirt and sleeveless turtleneck look it doesn't even reach your waste." Serah said smiling as Lightning blushed.

"Well your still young." Was Lightning's only defense.

"So are you Lightning, your young twenty-one isin't an old age." Serah said cossing her arms into a playful pout, Lightning just laughed at her younger sisters antics. After what seemed like hours

of silence of the two just sitting there watching the fire Serah finally asked a question that was on her mind. "Are you gonna go after Jihl?" Lightning turned to face her

"Why would I go after Jihl?" Lightning deflected the question with her own.

"Well I saw the tape of Jihl kidnapping you so I thought you would want revenge." Serah explained as Lightning turned back to face the fire.

"I don't know." Was her answer "Right now I just want to be here with you." she continued watching the flames dance under the night sky.

Serah left it at that and snuggled into Lightning's lap like a small child would with her mother. Both of them were content with the moment and just sat there Lightning sitting and leaning against

a tree by the fire and Serah in her lap watching the fire. After about half an hour Lightning looked down at Serah and asked "Serah are you awake?"

"Yeah when is your voice going to get better it must hurt." Serah responed as Lightning looked up at the stars and let out a sigh.

"I don't know but I'm started to get sick of this sore throat, and sounding like I'm sick." Lightning said as a shooting star went by. A few more moments of silence went by before Lightning asked

Serah "Were you hurt at all?" Serah looked up at her before mumbling out a no. "You should go to sleep." Lightning stated as she noticed Serah getting more tired.

"No I wan't to stay up and talk to you." Serah argued "And I want to know what they did to you." She continued as she watched Lightning and saw her eyes darken.

"I'd rather not Serah." Lightning said as Serah shifted.

"Come on Light!" She argued.

"No Serah I don't want to look weak infront of you." Lightning said looking deeply into Serah's eyes. Serah took the hint and left it at that.

"I guess I'll just have to get Sazh to ask you." Serah said grinning as Lightning ounce more blushed and looked away.

"Serah I'm not gonna say this again. He'.." Lightning said slowly while glaring at her little sister before smiling and ounce again embraced her in a hug, and Serah did the same

as they fell asleep in that position hugging by the fire under the starry night sky.


	6. Chapter 5: Demons

Sisterly Love Chapter 5: Demons

The next morning seemed to have come quickly for Lightning as she awoke to Serah's squirming, and the smell of bacon. She slowly opened her eyes to see Snow sitting at the fire over a pan

cooking some bacon. _Go figure the first thing I see him doing is eating, that's about all he does. _Lightning thought as she carefully picked Serah up to not wake her and carried her over to the tent

she had regained consciousness in earlier without alerting Snow. She entered the tent to find Fang lying on her back with her arm over her eyes cursing Snow for getting her up so early.

"Easy now watch what you say his Fiancee is in the room." Lightning joked with her hoarse voice as Fang looked up surprised.

"Well look who's up sleepyhead I saw you by the tree, I gotta say the scene warmed my heart." The suddenly warm hearted Fang said as Lightning layed Serah down.

"I see they did quite a number on you." Fang remarked as she noticed Lightning's hoarse voice and the slight limp she was walking with.

"Right... not much I could do in the position I was in. But to my credit I did attempt a jailbreak." Lightning said smiling, as Fang laughed at the younger girls cheeriness.

"That jailbreak almost got you killed." Fang stated as she walked over and embraced Lightning in a tight hug. Lightning hugged her back and after a few moments Fang released her.

"How so?" Lightning queried as she gave Fang a confused look.

"If it wasn't for her you would be six feet under right now with all of us mourning over your grave." Fang said nodding her head in Serah's direction.

"Wow your nice." Lightning said with a pout as the two of them walked outside the tent to let Serah sleep in peace. Lightning went and sat on a log beside the fire as Snow just noticed her.

"Oh hey look who's up long time no see huh?" he said happy to see her well being. Lightning crossed her legs and yawned before responded to Snow's greeting.

"Yeah and look who's eating." She said before seeing Snow visibly cringe at the sound of her hoarse voice. "Is it really that bad?" Lightning asked as Snow shook his head while saying

"Yeah do you need some water or something? it must kill." Snow said offering her some but Lightning shook her head putting her hand out in front of her to convince him.

"No I'm fine. Really." Lightning responded before wrapping her arms around herself just now feeling the chili air on her skin as she was still in only her skirt and turtleneck from the night before.

Lightning felt some extra weight over her shoulders. She turned around to see that Sazh had put his jacket over her to warm her up. Lightning looked up at him mouth ajar and eyebrows raised.

"God Sazh your so corny." She laughed as he took a seat beside her Sazh put an arm around her and pulled the younger girl by fourteen years closer to rest her head on his shoulder laughing.

"Ha welcome back and the least you could do is be grateful you stubborn little girl." Sazh said jollily as Lightning looked into his face.

"Your in a good mood did the Rams win?" she asked as the older man shook his head smiling as Lightning just shook her head and adjusted the coat around her shoulders.

"Well thanks then Sazh I appreciate it." Lightning sincerely told him as Serah bounded happily out of the tent with a bright smile on her face. She knelt down in front of Lightning grinning at her

their noses about an inch apart. "I told you Lightning." Was all that she stated waiting for her sisters reaction, though it wasn't the one she was expecting.

"Serah what the hell are you talking about?" Lightning asked knowing what she was trying to do. Serah opened her mouth to protest but shut it again before squinting at her sister.

"So I think we should get moving." Lightning said to the group as they were all settling around the food Snow had prepared.

"What no! it's too early and Vanille's not even up yet!" Snow stated as a drowsy Vanille walked out of one of the tents she stopped when she saw Lightning leaning on Sazh.

"Well well look at the two lovebirds!" Vanille teased as Lightning turned bright red and ended up tossing a piece of firewood in her direction. Vanille dodged it and ran up and hugged Lightning.

"Welcome back." She said softly as Lightning hugged back. As everyone ate Lightning went and retrieved her vest from the tent and put it on when she came out everyone was done so they

packed up and headed towards the van. Lightning was leading them through the woods to the road when she suddenly stopped.

"Shit!" Lightning said under her breath when she saw the soldiers searching the van for any sign of them.

"Guys go back." she whispered as they came forward but before she could follow after them one of the soldiers spotted her bright pink hair in all the green of the woods.

"You there freeze and come out slowly." He instructed as Lightning was beginning to go forward Serah caught her hand causing her to turn around.

"Don't go." She pleaded as Lightning's eyes softened hearing her plead.

"Don't worry Serah I can handle them I'll be back in a second." Lightning assured her as Serah shook her head before saying.

"Then I'm staying here." Lightning gave a defeated nod as Serah crouched behind a bush that concealed her. Lightning stepped out of the woods only to have several guns pointed in her face.

"Easy boys." Lightning said raising her hands, as one of the guards stepped forward and grabbed her right wrist, at that moment Lightning quickly kneed him in the gut and did a spin kick

to his face knocking him to the ground. She continued with a front flip high in the air taking out her Blaze Edge in gun mode and filling a couple soldiers full of lead. Lightning gracefully landed

and switched her gun to the sword mode and made some lethal slices on two of the soldiers leaving one left. The final one was able to knock Lightning's sword out of her hand but before

he could bring his own down on her Lightning rolled to the side and sweep kicked him knocking him on the ground. She then retrieved her sword and plunged it into his heart. Lightning got up

from her knees and trotted back to Serah. "Let's go." She said as the two quickly made their way back towards their camp ground.

"There you two are what happened?" Fang asked concerned.

"As we were leaving one of the soldiers saw my hair." Lightning told her shrugging while Snow chuckled.

"Okay where do we go from here?" Sazh asked rubbing his chin in thought.

"Well the van is pretty much useless they'll be looking for it...but there is a airplane hangar near here we should steal one and get away in it...Sazh you can fly one right?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah piece of cake!" Sazh said smiling. They headed in the direction of the hangar while Sazh insisted on telling them all about the Rams game and how he wished he was there to see it.

After a short walk the arrived at the wall surrounding the runway. "Is this military property?" Vanille asked, Lightning gave a nod before snapping her fingers as her gravity shield activated

she jumped and did a flip over the large wall. Seconds later the door was opened allowing the others passage to the runway, she led them behind a giant loading crate and peaked around it.

"Looks like theirs only three guards around the plane." Lightning stated as she turned to Fang, "You take the one on the right, I'll get the left, and Vanille you snipe out the front." their leader

continued with the plan. Lightning and Fang snuck around the end of the crate and slowly made they're way over to the unoccupied plane, Lightning gave Vanille a signal and a second later

she shot an arrow into the front guards head solidly embedding itself in his skull. Lightning then silently ran up behind the guard on the left of the plane snapping his neck Fang did the same

as the guards were dealt with the others made their way onto the plane while Fang, and Lightning hid the bodies. Lightning went to turn towards the plane but something caught her eye.

"Hey Fang look at this." She called out to Fang with a shaky voice, Fang rushed over to check it out. The scene inside the building caused Lightning's heart to jump up into her throat because

what she saw scared her. Jihl Nabaat, and Yaag Rosch were in a room and it looked like Jihl was really livid about Lightning's escape as she was pacing and screaming while flailing her arms.

"Shit, let's go Light." Fang said placing a hand on the younger girls shoulder, Lightning nodded and headed off onto the plane. Ounce inside Sazh turned it on and took off Lightning took a

seat beside Serah who was sitting with Snow, she was surprised to see that they were both uncharecteristicly quiet. "Whats wrong with you two?" she asked as they turned to face her.

"Nothing just kind of nervous." Serah said, Lightning nodded as Fang came over with some ice.

"Here you should ice your leg get rid of that limp." she said as Lightning took the frozen ice and thanked her. She put it on her upper thigh and decided to close her eyes as the fatigue

from the last couple of days caught up with her she fell asleep. As soon as she was out Lightning began to have an odd dream, she dreamt she was in a forest full of black charred tree's

crawling with giant spiders. After a while of walking through this figment of her imagination a voice out of nowhere spoke to her "_What the hell are you doing! your wasting valuable time."_

A demonic sounding voice snarled at her, Lightning's eyes shot open and she sat up breathing heavily. Lightning looked at her hands to see that they were shaking madly, she took

deep breaths to calm herself down but couldn't stop the shaking.

"Lightning are you okay?" Serah's concerned voice came from beside her, Lightning turned to face her and nodded her head.

"Y-yeah I'm f-fine." Lightning lied trying to reassure her sister. She stood up to hide in the washroom to collect her thoughts she passed a sleeping Vanille who was drooling on her arm.

"Mmmmph!" As soon as Lightning shut and locked the door a leather clad hand was roughly clamped over her mouth.

"Hello dear." An all to familiar voice rang in her ear, Lightning's eyes widened as Jihl spoke. "Thought you could escape me that easy huh? well I'll have to disipline you my child."

"I guess I'll start with the lives of your friends, and your dear little sister thats a good start than maybe some torture I missed my chance for that back in Eden but I won't miss it this time."

"Mmmph!" Lightning struggled but Jihl had an iron like grip on her arms and she couldn't break free.

"Stay still little girl, now punishment number one- the death of your closest friends and only family begins in..."

"3"

"2"

"1"

And with that Jihl held out a switch and pressed the button. Lightning's eyes widened ounce again...and the plane exploded.


	7. Chapter 6: Welcome to Pulse

Sisterly Love Chapter 6: Welcome to Pulse

"Hey whats that?" Jihl said to Yaag as she had finished her rant about Lightning's escape.

"Whats what? I don't see it." Yaag said turning around looking at nothing imparticular. He turned back to Jihl to see she had a lustful grin and look in her eyes, he had to admit she

scared him when she was like this, so cold and cruel.

"I think our little friend has come back, like a good pet always does." Jihl laughed, Yaag turned to see a flash of pink disappear from the window. _Oh God Lightning run!_ he thought as

Jihl grabbed a bomb and took off after her. Seconds later Jihl was outside staring down the plane that had just started up, _your mine now dear, _the cold, cruel women thought

as she started sprinting towards the plane as she slid under it and quickly planted the bomb on the middle of the plane. She then rolled back and cut a hole where she could sneak in

undetected. Jihl ended up in the washroom of the plane _perfect _she thought _now all I have to do is wait for my little kitten to come to momma. _Jihl than waited patiently for Lightning to appear.

* * *

The throbbing in Lightning's head is what caused her to wake up, she slowly raised her eyes to see Serah lying a few feet from her _NO _wasall she could think as she rushed over to her

sisters side. "Serah!" Lightning called to her sister as she gathered her in her arms, Lightning desperately tried to wake Serah only to be overcome with a strange feeling which eventually

caused her pass out onto Serah.

"Wakey wakey, little girl." The demonic voice rang in Lightning's ears causing her to raise her head to find that she was back in her nightmare from before. Lightning shook her head

and buried it in her hands until a sharp pain in her chest caused her to flinch and look up and see a very very large spider that made the other giant ones look tiny.

"That's right this isn't a dream, but a vision I have complete control over you, now come and bow before me." _What? _Lightning thought _It has that same voice...wait what an I doing?_

Lightning then stood up and went before the great beast. "Good girl, now my pet you will do what I say. There is a special crystal that I think of great importance however it may prove

dangerous to obtain."

"How-"

"SILENCE!" the beast erupted when Lightning went to talk. "You will speak only when told too or suffer the consequences." Than Lightning felt an excruciating pain resonating from her

chest causing her to fall forward into the fetal position shaking. "Good now would you want to feel that even worse?" Lightning shook her head no not wanting to open her mouth

in case he went off on her again. "Now it is in a cave in the jungle you were in earlier, find it and bring it to me." The spider said before pausing and looking around the barren plane.

"Oh and I almost forgot. Welcome to Pulse." And with that Lightning's eyes continued to get heavier until she fell unconscious.

"Lightning!"

Lightning awoke to the sound of Serah's voice ringing in her head. She shot up to be met with a face full of Serah's pink hair. Lightning wrapped her arms around her breathing heavily.

"Are you all right? what happened?" Serah questioned as Lightning looked around her surroundings_. You may speak_ that horrifying voice rang in her head.

"Shit." She cursed as Serah gave her a confused look.

"Whats wrong Light?" she said grabbing Lightning's chin and tilting it back to face her.

"N-nothing I'm just a-a little shaken up." Lightning said her mind on the terrible vision she had just experienced.

"Right...well the plane exploded now were stuck here." Serah said standing up and walking around.

"Wait! Serah your alive!" Lightning half yelled as it just struck her that her little sister was live and well.

"Yeah. And your acting weird." Serah said slowly watching her sister with a curious eye. "What happened anyway, you left than the plane exploded. Shoot I was really looking forward to

getting home." Serah stated as Lightning stood up and walked around getting used to moving around again.

"Um Jihl was in the washroom when I went there and she detonated a bomb." Lightning told her inspecting the debris noticing it was only the back half. " Are the others all right?"

"Don't know were the only ones here." Serah said laying down on the grass. "That means Jihl's here too right?" Serah asked staring at the clouds.

"Yeah." Lightning quietly responded as the fact just hit her. Serah gazed around her surroundings before asking.

"This is Pulse right?" Lightning nodded confirming that it indeed was the hellhole known as Pulse. "I bet Fang and Vanille are doing just fine then." She stated walking over to Lightning.

"Here take this." Lightning said handing Serah her survival knife that Serah had gotten her for her birthday not too long ago.

"You'll need it it's dangerous here keep your eyes open and stay at my side." She instructed her sister as Serah took the knife. She nodded her understanding before Lightning led the way

towards the smoke in the distance. "So what if we run into Jihl?" Serah asked after a couple miles of walking, Lightning visibly flinched at the sound of her name.

"Serah I don't even want to think about it, that women is crazy and unfortunately... I'm her latest obsession." She said as Serah fiddled with the knife.

"Can't you beat her?" Serah said as Lightning was in deep thought about the question.

"I don't think so, I'm faster but she's smart really smart she thinks two to three moves ahead." Lightning said thinking about their last battle.

After a bit of walking Lightning began to think deeply about the visions she had been having lately _Every time I'm asleep or unconscious _she thought as the giant spider entered her

thoughts _and what of this crystal that thing was talking about. _Serah had been watching her sister for a bit now seeing that she was deep in thought about something she asked.

"Whats up Light?" Lightning looked down at her with a confused look.

"What are you talking about?" She asked as she stared into the nearing smoke on the horizon.

"Well your eyes were all glazed over in thought so I want to know what your thinking." She stated as Lightning turned to Serah with her icy eyes.

"You don't want to know it'll give you nightmares, than you would want to sleep with me and I wouldn't be able to sleep because of your squirming and-"

"Oh come on Lightning! I do not squirm in my sleep!" Serah objected as Lightning only laughed at her only making her more frustrated.

"Yes you do. Now look out for monsters while I check this out." Lightning declared an end to the argument as she went over to a piece of machinery.

"Whats that?" Serah questioned as Lightning ran her hand over it's smooth surface.

"I don't know." Lightning told her and continued to inspect the thing. "Shit." Lightning said as it hit finally hit her of what the thing is.

"What is it?" Serah asked with a frown.

"It's a Cocoon military transport airship. Shit Jihl knew what would happen when she blew up the plane damn. Am I doomed to fight PSICOM for the rest of my life, I just wanna go

home and sleep." Lightning said while pacing back and forth. Finally she stopped and looked at Serah who had tilted her head to the side intrigued by Lightning's rant.

"Sorry." Lightning mumbled turning red from embarrassment. "Lets go." Serah nodded and they went off in the same direction. After a bit of walking Lightning pulled Serah

to the ground. "What is it?" Serah asked her voice shaky. Lightning replied by putting a finger to her own lips, Serah nodded and ducked down behind the bush.

Walking along the adjacent path in the underbrush was a group of PSICOM soldiers with a couple of giant robots for heavy firepower.

"If we get caught by those things were done for so be careful and don't make a sound." Lightning whispered to Serah as they began to stalk forward, all was going good until

a monster nearby snapped a twig _fuck _Lightning thought as Serah and herself broke into an all out sprint as the soldiers and robots began firing at them. Lightning could hear the

bullets just whizzing by her ear, and in front of her she could see that the path they were on was coming to an end with a deadly fall. _3..2..1 _Lightning thought as she quickly pulled

Serah to her in a hug and snapped her fingers creating her gravity shield and jumped off the cliff and soared through the air before sticking the landing just as the shield deactivated.

It was then that the adrenaline in Lightning's body began to wear off and the searing pain in her abdominal began to reveal itself. Lightning stumbled over to a tree and fell to her

knees. "Whats wrong?" Serah asked as Lightning removed her bloody hand to show her wound. Serah paled and ran and knelt down at her sisters side as Lightning began coughing

up blood. "Lightning?" Serah asked near tears.

*Cough cough* "Yeah?" Lightning responded in a weak voice as Serah began rubbing her sisters hair nervously.

"Are you gonna be okay?" She asked as a few tears rolled down her face.

"Hey." Lightning said wiping them away "I'll be alright I always make it through." Lightning said as she began to feel lightheaded from the blood loss.

"What do I do?" Serah asked afraid that she might lose her sister. "How am I supposed to live without you?" The question made Lightning's eyes look extremely sad.

"You have Snow." Was all she could say. "Here take this." Lightning said handing Serah her Blaze Edge. "I love you Serah." Lightning said as tears began rolling down her cheeks.

"I love you Lightning." Serah said her voice a whisper. "But your too young to die I'll save you." She said as she took off Lightning's vest and identified the entrance and exit wounds,

she then proceeded to lay Lightning on her back and elevated her legs to prevent the shock factor from kicking in. Serah then applied pressure to the wound as she took off the cloth

on her arm revealing her 'Cie mark before tying it tightly as a tourniquet. "Your gonna be alright." Serah told her to keep Lightning's hopes up to further more prevent the shock from

kicking in. Serah then gently grabbed Lightning's face and turned her head to the side so her tongue would not obstruct her airway. Serah then checked much to her relief that

Lightning was taking regular breaths and that she could see her chest rising and falling steadily. Serah then checked Lightning's pulse to see that it was a decent one removing some

of the stress of the situation. "Lightning? could you move your hands and feet for me?" Serah asked as Lightning nodded weakly and began moving said body parts successfully.

_Lets see here I've done the first four of the five ABC's so the last one is...exposure. _Serah turned red at the prospect of undressing her sister and hesitantly moved over to her.

"Lightning? now I'm going to undress you to make sure I didn't miss any wounds." Serah told her as she unzipped Lightning's turtleneck and carefully removed it. Looking over her

upper body Serah saw that there was no other wounds up there so she continued by undoing the belt to Lightning's skirt and pulling it down to reveal no other gunshot wounds.

Serah let out a sigh of relief and covered her sister back up pulling up her skirt and doing the belt up, and putting her turtleneck back on and zipping it up.

"So now do you believe me that I was indeed at the Y learning how to treat gunshot wounds and not with Snow?" Serah asked Lightning who smiled and nodded saying.

"I wish you would have learned a cure spell. It would have been much easier then going through the trouble of all this." Lightning said weakly as Serah laughed.

"Go find Fang or Vanille they know a cure spell." Lightning said to Serah.

"What about you their are monsters, and PSICOM out there you never know when they'll show up." Serah argued with her sister.

"I'll be fine I've still got plenty of ammo in my Blaze Edge." Lightning told her as Serah handed back her beloved sword.

"Wait here a sec." Serah said as she ran over to some of the wreckage from their plane and retrieved some bandages, she ran back to her sister and applied them to Lightning's

wound and removed the tourniquet. "There now if you need to put more on I'll leave them here okay?" Serah said as Lightning loaded her gun and sat up against a tree bringing her knees

to her chest while flinching from the burning pain in her wound. "Good thing it went in and out cleanly it would have been tough to fish it out in the wilderness." Lightning joked as Serah

laughed and started her search for the others heading towards the smoking remains of their plane.


	8. Chapter 7: Revelations

Sisterly Love Chapter 7: Revelations

Serah started her trek to find the others while tying the cloth back around her 'Cie mark much to her dismay it pretty much was covered with stained blood making it red now no longer

white but she sill wore it because she couldn't to look at her 'Cie mark for it reminded her of the fate that was forced upon her. The young eighteen year old stared at the beautiful

scenery around her and before she knew it there was noises coming from up ahead. Serah ducked into the underbrush on her right just in case they were PSICOM soldiers.

After a couple seconds the enemy appeared on the dirt trail and leading the pack was none other than Jihl Nabaat. _Oh no. _Serah thought as the menacing woman walked confidently

down the path. Serah held her breath as Jihl passed her silently praying that she would not notice her, she was confident that they would not find Lightning because she made sure

to hide her deep in the underbrush way off of the path. Ounce Jihl passed and the soldiers were out of sight Serah made her way back on the path and sprinted so they could not

back track and find her easily. After she felt safe enough Serah slowed to a walk when she noticed she was still clutching the knife so tightly that her hands were sweating.

Serah tied the sheath around her right upper thigh and rubbed her hands together _Okay now where do I start? _she thought as she absentmindedly played with her ponytail.

Serah decided to follow the smoke and hopefully run into a member of their party for she was no good at tracking people like Lightning was. S_he should have taught me but noooo_

_it's the same answer every time she says "I fight so you don't have to." Sure it's sweet and all for her to do that but I think it would be helpful if she taught me a couple things such as_

_I dunno FIGHTING! I'm no good at this stuff yet here I am out all alone in PULSE! OF ALL PLACES PULSE! good going sis don't blame me if my heads torn off afterall you didn't teach me _

_my stubborn sister you can't change her mind. No no way ounce it's made it's made but I still love her. _Serah was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice a widely grinning

Vanille inches from her face, Serah opened her eyes and let out a yelp of surprise at the younger girls sudden arrival.

"Hello." Vanille greeted in her Australian like accent.

"Um hi Vanille." Serah returned the greeting while her heart was still pounding quickly in her chest from the scare.

"So how do you like the homeland?" Vanille asked the frightened Serah who had her hand over her heart taking deep breaths to slow her heart rate.

"Um it's fine I guess." She responded finally calming her nerves. "You gave me quite a scare there." Serah said with a smile.

"Ha! yeah I wasn't going to do it at first but then I thought ah what the hay it'll be funny. I didn't know it would scare you have to death, sorry about that." Vanille apologized before

a thought struck her. "Hey wheres Lightning?" She asked with a frown Serah's eyes widened at how she could forget about her dear sisters condition.

"Oh yeah you know cure magic right?" Serah asked as Vanille's face took on a worried expression.

"Uh yeah is there a problem? what happened to Light?" She asked in a worried voice.

"Well yeah...we were attacked by some PSICOM and Light was hit in a pretty bad place it's pretty serious." Serah said as she led Vanille in the direction of Lightning's hiding place.

"Yeah me and Fango were together for a bit but then PSICOM attacked us and we were separated." Vanille explained their story as they walked.

"So what exactly happened to the plane?" Vanille asked as she reached the end of her story.

"Well Light said that Jihl was in the washroom and when she went in there Jihl grabbed her said somethings to her and detonated a bomb." Serah explained while Vanille listened.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Vanille said before the duo heard the sound of metal feet on the path up ahead, the two of them then ran and hid in the bushes just as the soldiers came

into view. Leading the pack was Yaag Rosch _WHAT? HE'S HEAR TOO OH NO! _Serah screamed in her mind as the PSICOM soldiers passed by. Vanille went to speak but Serah shoved

a nearby apple in her mouth. "Keep your mouth shut for one second alright Vanny?" Serah asked the gagged girl.

"Mmmph!" Vanille exclaimed shaking her head up and down as they decided it was safe to get back on the path. Ounce they were walking down the path Serah asked.

"I bet you five gil you can't keep that apple in your mouth for the whole walk." Serah challenged Vanille who responded with a muffled barely understandable 'your on'

about an hour later the girls arrived to their destination Serah led Vanille over to Lightning who had her eyes closed still resting against the tree. Serah ran over to her and started

shaking her shoulder. "Lightning wake up." Lightning's eyes groggily slid open so they were half open, then she quizzically looked at Vanille who still had the apple in her mouth.

"Oh Lightning can I have five gil?" Serah asked as she had lost the bet.

"What did you to bet?" Lightning asked coughing. Serah smiled as she responded.

"That Vanille couldn't keep that apple in her mouth for the walk back here." Serah told her as Vanille giggled as she did a victory dance.

"Oh you may not be able to tell from looking at her but Vanille is very competetive." Lightning stated closing her eyes again.

"Hey keep your eyes open Light! you have to stay awake your lucky that little cat nap you took back there didn't kill you." Serah scolded her sister as Vanille walked over.

She spit the apple into her hand and asked. "Wheres the boo boo?" Lightning glared at her before snapping back.

"I didn't scrape my knee Vanille." Vanille laughed as Lightning showed her the wound. Vanille grimaced before replying.

"Sorry Lightbulbino but I don't think my magic is strong enough. We would need to find the wild haired raven." Vanille informed as Lightning's face fell.

"Okay lets go." Lightning said trying to get up before Serah pushed her down.

"I don't think so." She said shaking her head.

"Well I'm not waiting here." Lightning argued as Serah took on a thoughtful expression.

"Okay just a second." Serah said before running over to the wreckage of their plane.

"Here bite down on this to relieve the pain." Serah said stuffing thick bandages into Lightning's mouth.

"Mmmph!" Lightning gagged on them as Serah and Vanille helped her up, as soon as she rested any wait on her feet Lightning started to moan in pain into the bandages.

"Okay easy now." Serah said slinging Lightning's right arm over her shoulder to help her walk as Vanille did the same. The three moved at a slow pace but eventually by

pure luck stumbled across Snow who was about to eat a berry off a near by plant.

"Hey stop!" Serah yelled at him as he dropped the berry and turned to them.

"Oh hey." He greeted as he walked over to them. "What happened?" He asked looking Lightning up and down "Light getting lazy?" He recieved a glare from Lightning for it.

"No we were attacked and she got it while protecting me." Serah said "Can you carry her for us?" Serah asked as Snow smiled and nodded.

"Mmm mmmph!" Lightning protested but they were ignored as Snow carefully picked her up bridal style.

"Ah! if you drop me I will kick your ass." Lightning warned him as she took the bandages out of her mouth.

"So Lightning how about that five gil?" Serah asked innocently.

"Ask Snow for it you two are going to get married whats his is yours now." Lightning said looking up at Snow before continuing "And that includes his stacks of porn magazines."

Snow turned red. "What no what are you talking about Light I don't look at porn!" He objected as Lightning, and Vanille giggled about it.

Serah however was not pleased she stopped in the middle of the path and crossed her arms glaring at Snow. "Do you?" Was all she had to say.

"No!" Snow ounce again objected, Lightning continued to laugh before saying.

"Easy Serah I was only kidding." Serah looked at Lightning.

"That would be five gil then." Serah said, Lightning still laughed at Snow's face.

"Well worth it." She stated digging out the gil and handing it to Serah who finally smiled again. After another couple miles of walking Lightning fell asleep.

_Not again _was her first thought upon seeing the meteors falling from the sky. Lightning climbed to her knees and stared out across the wasteland it didn't take her long to see

that greasy mongrel spider and smell that oh so familiar odor that occupied the air space. "_Welcome." _It spoke like a father welcoming back his daughter from a long trip.

"_I couldn't help but notice that you haven't even attempted to find that crystal." _Lightning opened her mouth but then closed it remembering he would hurt her.

"_Oh silly me I forgot. You may speak." _Lightning visibly shivered at the sound of his voice it almost sounded loving as if she were his daughter.

"Um..Right now...I..am more worried about my little sisters safety and survival is the first concern right now." Lightning said but the spider could tell from her voice that she was scared.

"_Well then maybe I'll just have to use your sister by visiting her dreams until you find the crystal...she is arachnophobic right? oh yeah that's right you are too just not as much."_

Lightning shivers and drops her head and falls unconscious as the monster had gotten the threat to Serah across to her.

Snow, and Serah were staring down at Lightning's shaking form in Snow's arms. Lightning had been shaking as if she were terrified for a while now ever since she had fell asleep

"Lets wake her up." Serah said looking up at Snow who nodded, Serah then shook Lightning's shoulders waking up her sister. Lightning groggily opened her eyes and Serah could

clearly see the fear in them. "Lightning are you alright?" She asked feeling like it wasn't the first time the words had left her mouth that day.

"Y-yeah I-I'm alright." Lightning said refusing to make eye contact with Serah, Vanille, and Snow.

"Then why are you shaking?" Serah questioned ounce more.

"I just had a n-nightmare." Lightning stated taking deep breaths to slow her pounding heart.

"Okay." Serah said rubbing Lightning's arm to help calm her down. "We found Fang." Serah said motioning to the wild haired woman next to her.

"Alright lets get you fixed up. It's not like you to be getting carried around by guys." Fang said smiling as she healed Lightning's wound, the magic made Lightning feel lightheaded.

"Now you might pass out from such strong magic but try not to alright?" Fang said with a smile, Lightning looked up at her before replying.

"I think I'll be alright I've been doing allot of sleeping lately albeit not a good nights sleep but it beats nothing. Snow please let me go." Lightning said as Snow went to put her down

but Sazh stopped him. "Not until we set up camp sweetie." He told Lightning while smiling and putting up the tents. A little while later everything was set up in what seemed like a

safe haven from the main path and no PSICOM or monsters were seen around the site. Snow laid Lightning down in the tent she would be sharing with Fang, and Serah who insisted

she sleep in the same tent as her sister to keep an eye on her restless sibling.

"Go to sleep alright Light?" Serah said to her sister as Lightning closed her eyes.

"But I can't sleep Serah." She whined as Serah put some blankets over her.

"Oh quit complaining and at least try." She scolded as Lightning sat up.

"Come on I want to sit by the fire." Lightning pouted as her little sister pushed her back down.

"No. Come on your acting like a little kid." She said as Lightning crossed her arms.

"Am not." Was her childish response, Serah just shook her head as she stood to leave.

"Go to bed Lightning." Lightning rolled onto her side as Serah left the tent and closed her eyes _I don't want to sleep because I'm scared thats why but I can't tell you that _Lightning thought.

Ounce outside Serah went and took a seat beside Snow, and Fang. "Um guys I think one of us should keep watch in case Lightning tries to get up to do something." Serah said to the group.

"I'll go first." Fang said. Back in the tent Lightning but before she could drift into a waking dream Lightning's eyes shot open she finally knew what that giant of a spider is.


	9. Chapter 8: A Friend From The Past

Sisterly Love Chapter 8: A Friend From The Past

Lightning finally managed to fall asleep and was relieved to find that she did not have to visit that hellhole she had been lately. _He finally realized that I need a good nights sleep to get his_

_stupid crystal _Lightning thought. After a while she abandoned the prospect of trying to sleep again and decided to get some fresh air, the blue eyed woman looked around her to find

that Serah was in bed already and so was Fang. She stood up silently and made her way out of the tent, when the cold air hit her Lightning shivered _I guess a short skirt isn't proper_

_attire for the cold night _she thought to herself.

"Excuse me young lady but I believe your supposed to be in bed resting." Fang's sudden voice made Lightning visibly jump, the mention of her wound made Lightning notice how sore

it actually was. "Oh Fang you caught me off guard there." Lightning said walking over to the woman.

"Yeah right I scared you have to death." Fang teased as the two women took a seat beside each other by the burning fire. "So whats on your mind?' Fang asked.

"Nothing." Lightning responded quickly automatically raising suspicion on Fang's part.

"Than why don't you tell me why you always shake frightened whenever you sleep." Fang countered Lightning's answer.

"I don't, I'm just cold that's all." Lightning said hesitantly. Fang stared at the younger girl making Lightning shift uncomfortably under her gaze before finally cracking.

"All right I'm lying I have been hiding something." Lightning admitted looking shamefully down at the ground.

"What is it?" Fang asked looking intently at Lightning.

"Well have you ever...seen a Fal'cie?" Lightning asked the older woman.

"No." Fang said shaking her head.

"I have." Lightning told her the secret she had been hiding the whole day, Fang's eyes widened as she stared in disbelief at Lightning.

"Really! what do they look like?" Fang questioned inching closer to Lightning.

"Terrible..the one I saw was a giant spider." Lightning said flinching in remembrance of the beast.

"Oh yeah that's right your a little arachnophobic aren't you?" Fang asked seeing the girl's uncomfortable shifting at the mention of the creatures, Lightning just nodded quickly.

"Sorry then." Fang said pulling Lightning into a one arm hug, "So what were you up to young lady?" Fang asked smiling as Lightning looked away.

"Nothing, can't a girl get a little fresh air?" Lightning said scowling at Fang.

"Maybe if that's all you were out here for. But knowing you that's not it." Fang stated grabbing Lightning's chin and turning it to face her.

"Now tell me what were you doing." Fang said seriously still holding Lightning's chin in place so she couldn't look away.

"Alright big sis." Lightning said with a smile "I was going to try and find something." Lightning admitted staring at the ground.

"Okay what was it?" Fang asked.

"A crystal the Fal'cie requested." Lightning answered still eyeing the ground.

"You know what that means right?" Fang asked knowing the answer.

"Yeah I'll be crystallized." Lightning said looking up at Fang, who just nodded slowly. "But that's not what I intend on happening." Lightning continued speaking quietly.

"What do you mean?" Fang found herself ounce again asking a question _I'm surprised Lightning hasn't snapped yet _she thought looking at Lightning.

"I'm going to kill it...the Fal'cie." Lightning said coldly looking hard into Fang's eyes.

"Little sis you can't do that alone." Fang said surprised that Lightning thought of going alone that was suicide.

_Snap! _the snapping of a twig brought their attention back to their surroundings to find that they were absolutely surrounded by the PSICOM. Then the shadows of three people

made their way to the light of the fire to reveal the three people Lightning, and Fang did not want to see since their stints in PSICOM. They were Jihl, Yaag, and Cid Rayne*.

"Well what have we here." Jihl spoke with a smirk as the soldiers closed in around them in a circle.

"Keep quiet and surrender without a fight and we'll let your friends live." The man named Cid spoke as Lightning stood up.

"Now now my little kitten don't try anything it won't work." Jihl spoke as Lightning realized she left her Blaze Edge in the tent, she then felt her hands being thrust into manacles behind her

back. "What do you want Jihl?" Lightning snarled as Fang then stood up with her spear in hand.

"Oh Lightning you already know what I want right in case you forgot I want you and as you can see I won't stop until I have you in my arms." Jihl said smiling, Lightning shivered at this.

"You bitch!" Fang snarled as she lunged towards Jihl and swiped with her spear but Jihl dodged it and went to strike but Fang broke her spear in two and started swinging at her.

"Ah!" Lightning's cry of pain brought Fang's attention to her and stopped her assault.

"That's right Fang you better calm down or we'll hurt your 'little sister' real bad." Jihl warned her as she walked over to Lightning pulling her hair to force her head back, ounce more

Lightning cried out. Lightning was on her knees looking up at Jihl who knelt down and planted a long kiss on Lightning's lips.

"Mmmph!" Lightning's eyes widened as Jihl explored every inch of her mouth with her tongue. After what seemed like a while Jihl finally pulled away leaving Lightning dazed and confused.

Fang watched Lightning for a while then was surprised to see the dazed girl fall forward unconscious, Fang's eyebrows went up when she saw this, as Jihl walked over to her.

"Your turn." Jihl said moving in to kiss Fang who backed up with every step Jihl took.

"Uh uh I don't think so if you want to knock me out I'd rather take a shot to the head." Fang said while backing away from Jihl.

"If that's what you prefer." Jihl said and a second later Fang was struck in the head from behind by Cid Rayne*, as Fang crumbled to the ground Jihl picked up Lightning, while Yaag

picked up Fang and they led them into a airship that was parked on the wide path a few kilometres away from their makeshift camp. Ounce inside the ship Jihl, and Yaag placed

Lightning, and Fang in a cell and tied the unconscious women up.

"Now so I won't have to put of with your yelling when you come too, I'll just put this in here." Jihl said placing a fairly large red ball on a leather strap into Lightning's mouth and

locked it in place and with that they left the room leaving Lightning, and Fang alone and unconscious.

Serah awoke in the morning to find that neither Lightning, or Fang were in the tent with her _maybe their already up _she thought to herself as she climbed to her feet.

Serah walked outside to find the others already eating breakfast but Lightning and Fang are absent.

"Hey Serah are Light, and Fang-Fang up yet?" Vanille asks.

"Their not out here?" Serah asks confused as Vanille shakes her head no. "Their not in the tent either though." Serah says scratching her head.

"Their probably out hunting or something no need to fret." Sazhsaid takinga bite of...something.

* * *

"Arrgh." Fang awakes with a groan and lifts her pounding head to look around and notices that she's in a cell and that an engine is humming _on an airship huh _Fang thought as she

twisted her sore body to see Lightning tied up a few feet away from her also bound but with a ball gag in her mouth. Fang smirked _Lightning's going to be pissed when she wakes up_

she thought as the headache became more apparent to her. _I'd rather take a shot to the head... what the hell was I thinking? _she cursed herself fighting to get into a sitting position.

Fang looked over at Lightning to get a better look at her, Lightning was still out of it asleep or unconscious whatever Jihl's lip gloss did to her and she's tied at the wrists and ankles

with her arms behind her back and her luscious juicy pink lips wrapped around the glossy red ball gag in her mouth. After another half hour of sitting there trying to get her hands free

Fang noticed Lightning finally coming to. "Mmmm." She moaned opening her eyes to see a bound Fang across from her, Lightning's eyes widened as she looked at herself.

"Gmmf." She growls looking to Fang who's having a hard time suppressing a laugh. "Mmmph!" Lightning growled at her, eyes flashing that told her to shut up with her eyes.

"Alright alright Light I just find it funny." Fang said laughing, and Lightning gave her a quizzical look.

"Because you have such a big mouth and always have a smart ass remark for everything but now you can't say anything without humiliating yourself." Fang said erupting in laughter.

Lightning responded by pouting around the ball in her mouth. "So it's been a long time since we've seen Cid huh?" Fang asked the gagged girl, Lightning nodded in response.

"He's got a gun blade of his own now huh." She continued as the door to their cell opened.

"Good morning you two it truly is nice to see you gals again." Cid greeted the women quickly as he walked in.

"I wish we could say the same." Fang said glaring at the man who chuckled at her response.

"Yeah I bet you do but Light can't say anything now can she?" He mocked Fang's answer as Lightning glared at him as he walked over to the strawberry blond and tilted her chin back

so she looked him in the eye. Lightning's blue eyes flashed with anger, as Cid pulled at her lip and began stoking her face and petting her hair.

"Oh you don't even know how much I missed you." Cid said to the younger girl "We used to be such good friends...I was actually going to ask you out that one night at your house."

_Lightning was putting her work stuff away in her locker when she felt someone tap her shoulder, she turned around to see Cid smiling at her._

_"Hey Cid." She greeted him smiling as he brought her into a hug, Lightning laughed at how intimate he was with her._

_"I'm coming over to your house for dinner tonight." He told her as he let her go to continue putting her stuff away, Lightning turned back and locked her locker and turned back to him._

_"Whatever you say prince charming." Lightning smiled at him as they left the locker room and went to the parking lot._

_"Need a ride?" He asked her seeing she was about to walk home._

_"Actually yes I do Serah's got the car today." Lightning said as Cid ushered her to his car, the two got in and Cid pulled out of the parking lot and took her to her house._

_"Nice to see Serah didn't even come to pick me up." Lightning said upon seeing their car in the driveway._

_"Take it easy on her she's only seventeen." Cid said as the then twenty year old Lightning walked to the front door and unlocked the front door with her keys._

_"I always take it easy on her." Lightning stated opening the door and stepping inside followed by Cid._

_"You got a nice place." He said looking around Lightning, and Serah's cozy home._

_"Serah! are you home?" Lightning called out to her younger sister, who came running down the stairs and embraced Lightning in a hug._

_"Big sister!" She said excited that she was home, after what seemed like a while she pulled away. "How was your day? oh hey Cid." She asked looking up at her then to Cid._

_"It was fine y-" Lightning was cut off by Serah._

_"Are you staying for dinner?" She asked Cid who nodded at her. The three made their way into the living room where Serah flopped onto the couch and patted the seat next to her for Cid_

_to sit which he did. Lightning went upstairs and down the hall and entered her room through the last door on the right and threw her duffel bag on her bed. After a few minutes she_

_came back down the stairs wearing a loose long sleeve black shirt with white floral patterns on the front, she was also wearing form fitting blue jeans with white sneakers, and she was also_

_wearing her pendant that she never took off because it was a gift from her mother._

_"So Serah how was your day at school?" Lightning asked her sister who was watching some teenage drama show._

_"It was great first I had gym then we went on a field trip for the rest of the day, and I need you to sign this because your my guardian...they said I was skipping." Serah said making a face._

_"Well did you?" Lightning questioned putting her hands on her hips._

_"NO!" Serah said offended "You know I would never do anything like that!" She said standing up._

_"Alright alright I believe you I'm sorry." Lightning said putting her hands up in her defense. "Here let me sign that." Lightning said grabbing the paper and scribbling her signature on it._

_Ding! then the door bell rang and Lightning went to answer, she opened the door to see Snow standing there with a smile on his face. Despite being older than her he still dated her little_

_sister. "Hey Snow." She greeted him as she sidestepped to let him in he returned the greeting by pulling her into a crushing bear hug. "Ah!*cough* Snow let me go *cough* it's nice_

_to see you too." Lightning said struggling in his grasp until he finally let her go. "If you hug Serah like that you'll paralyze her." Lightning told him rubbing her back for emphasis._

_"Sorry you alright?" He asked slapping her on the back which earned him a glare from the twenty year old._

_"You really are stupid." She stated crossing her arms looking up at him._

_"And you really are short." Snow said jokingly as he started walking for the livingroom. "Is my baby hear?" He asked Lightning._

_"Yes but I've got a question." Lightning told him as Snow stopped._

_"What is it?" He asked as Lightning took a couple steps closer to him._

_"Um well I'm younger than you by I don't know five years is it?" At this Snow nodded he was twenty five and she was twenty. "So I'm just curious as to how you and Serah met." She finished._

_"Duh we met through friends Light." He told her, Lightning nodded before saying._

_"Sorry for asking I was just curious." She said as they walked to the living room. After dinner the four of them sat watching t.v with the lights off Snow and Serah were on the couch and_

_Lightning and Cid were on the love seat Cid was sitting while Lightning was laying against him with her head on his chest._

_"Lightning..um..I'm going to ask you a question if that's alright." No answer Cid took her silence as a way of telling him to keep going like she often did. "So um I was wondering if you would_

_like to be my girlfriend." He asked but still received no answer he then looked down to see that she was fast asleep. He sighed and picked her up and carried her to her bed and tucked the _

_younger girl in and smiled as he saw her snuggle into the blankets._

_"_And I never got the courage to ask you again." Cid explained as Lightning's eyes softened upon hearing his story it was true that if she had been awake she would of said yes.

"I still haven't gotten over you Lightning and I never will so if you ever feel the same way just come and see me." He told her as Lightning's face turned a shade of red than went beat

red when she noticed that she was drooling from the gag inhibiting her from swallowing, Cid chuckled as he wiped it away and hugged her as Lightning thought over what he had said.


	10. Chapter 9: Memories

Sisterly Love Chapter 9: Memories

"Okay guys it's been a few hours now and they haven't come back and Lightning left her gunblade in the tent some thing's up." Serah said to her friends after waiting anxiously.

"Oh come on Serah what do you think the odds are of them getting kidnapped?" Snow asked. "I mean they both can take care of themselves." He continued.

"Yeah I guess I may be overreacting." Serah said taking a seat by Snow. "So what do we do?" She asked.

"Wait." Snow replied pulling her back to lay on the grass.

* * *

"Oh poor you." Fang mocked Cid after he was done reminiscing of the past. Cid ignored it and continued to look into Lightning's eyes she felt uncomfortable with his lustful look

so she looked away. "What are you doing here?" Fang asked annoyed by his presence.

"Jihl wants me to bring Lightning to her." Cid replied looking over his shoulder to see Fang who just scowled at him.

"Then why are you telling us your life story" Fang asked sarcastically rolling her eyes.

"I'm stalling. I'm still not sure if I want my baby to be put through the likely torture Jihl has in mind no matter how sexual it may be." Cid said rubbing Lightning's legs.

"Mmmph gmmf." Lightning moaned kicking his hands away with her legs, Cid then cut the ropes around her legs and helped her to her feet. Lightning stumbled a bit as the feeling

returned to her legs. Lightning's eyes widened in surprise as Cid took out that same collar from before and clasped it around her neck.

"So you don't get any funny ideas I gotta make sure to keep you in my sight." Cid said attaching a chain to the collar to limit Lightning's mobility. Lightning hung her head and looked at

Fang. "Mmmph mmmf." She moaned to her as if telling her not to laugh, and with that Cid led her out of the cell.

"Have fun! I'll be waiting here." Fang called out to them as Cid shut the door.

Lightning was extremely embarrassed being led down and around the airship by Cid having to walk by all these males who were lustfully looking her up and down her fit and toned body.

"You know Light I was that guy who let you go back in Eden and I didn't really appreciate being kneed in the nuts I would really appreciate an apology." Cid told Lightning.

"Hey it's not funny." Cid said seeing Lightning smile around the ball in her mouth.

"Mmmgh gmmf mmmf mmmph." Lightning gave her muffled apology.

"Ha ha that's all right." Cid said chuckling and petting Lightning's hair causing her to glare at him.

"Here we are." Cid said leading Lightning into what she guessed was the bridge of the ship it was heavily guarded obviously so she won't get away easily.

He led her over to a corner of the bridge which had a few seats set up like a kind of booth type thing, Lightning sat on the left seat of the booth and crossed her legs.

Across fom her was Jihl, and Yaag, and Cid took the seat beside her to her right. Lightning nervously looked around her eyes not being able to focus on a single object for more than a

second. "Now dear no need to be so nervous you are among friends." Jihl said and as soon as she finished Lightning's flashing eyes snapped to meet Jihl's.

"Gmmmrf." Lightning growled at Jihl fiddling with her hands behind her back trying to get them free from the ropes, Cid put his hand on her shoulder to cease her struggling.

"Now hun I would like to have a little fun with you." Jihl said with a sadistic smile on her face, Lightning finally focused on Jihl.

"Now I was wondering what you were planning to do down on pulse." Jihl said looking at Lightning who was squirming uncomfortably under her gaze, she noticed Lightning's foot

jiggling nervously as she stared at the floor. _I can't really say much with this blasted thing in my mouth! _Lightning screamed in her mind. _Stay calm Light she just wants to humiliate _

_you by hearing your muffled attempts at talking yeah that's all. What was I doing on Pulse? you blew up our airship you bitch! _Cid then took the gag ball out of her mouth without undoing

the strap so it rested around her neck. "Ah!" Lightning gasped with her mouth finally free from the devious device, she started opening and closing her mouth to get her sore jaw

used to the motion of talking again before she attempted to, finally she turned to the older woman her eyes blazing with rage.

"What was I doing on Pulse? Are you serious? Your the one who blew up our ship and sent us to that hellhole in the first place! I guess I was just trying to survive." Lightning snarled

breathing heavily and seething with rage. "Always such a dirty mouth on you huh? that reminds me that I need to clean it out then maybe you'll learn some manners." Jihl said.

"I'll show you dirty you fuc-mmph!" Lightning was once more silenced by Cid firmly placing his hand over her mouth.

"Now now young Lightning you need to learn to be nicer and keep your head cool you do have quite a temper you know." Jihl said to the younger girl, while looking at her fingernails as

Lightning just became even more angry, she finally got fed up enough and so she bit down hard on Cid's hand.

"Ah!" he cried out releasing her mouth from his grasp. "Fuck you Jihl your just a sick sadistic cold cruel woman." Lightning yelled at her as the other people in the bridge stood and watched

the young woman yell at the top of her lungs. "Gag her." Jihl ordered Cid to shut her up as he recovered from the sudden attack and was able to get the ball back into Lightning's mouth.

"Now you better behave or I'll have to deal out some extreme punishment." Jihl warned her as Lightning sat back down and crossed her legs.

Suddenly Lightning had another flashback of her times with Cid.

_Lightning, Cid, and Yaag were on there way to a mission in a far off continent of Pulse and they were in a airship sitting around waiting to get to their destination._

_"You know Yaag you should smile more." Lightning stated out of no where breaking the silence._

_"What are you talking about Light?" Yaag questioned the then nineteen year old Lightning._

_"I'm just saying I haven't seen you smile since my birthday party last year at the office." Lightning said._

_"Yeah well I was drunk." Yaag said as Lightning just shook her head._

_"That's sad." She said to the older man. "Do you need a hug?" Lightning teased him._

_"No!" Yaag said firmly, making Lightning cross her arms._

_"Do you have a wife?" She questioned._

_"No." Yaag said._

_"Well maybe if you actually smiled you could get all the ladies." Lightning said grinning as she could see Yaag getting more frustrated._

_"Tell that to Cid he doesn't smile either." Yaag said gesturing to the other man sleeping in the corner._

_"I have but he doesn't listen, he's stubborn." Lightning said looking towards Cid._

_"Then that makes you two a perfect match then." Yaag stated watching Lightning's mouth open in astonishment._

_"I am not stubborn!" She argued staring at Yaag. "Yeah well anyway I think if you smiled more you could get Jihl." Lightning said looking out the window._

_"What makes you think that?" Yaag asked the young girl._

_"Nah never mind I was just saying what I thought. Jihl's not your type anyway." Lightning said._

_"How so?" Yaag asked as Lightning turned to face him._

_"Her breasts are to big for you." She said smiling, as Yaag gave her a blank stare. "That's what I thought. Anyways I kind of think she might be a lesbian." Lightning added._

_"Really." Was all Yaag could say._

_"Oh yeah you should see her in the girls shower." Lightning said laying back on the couch in the cabin of the airship. "Night." Lightning said letting out a yawn before drifting off to sleep._

Lightning snapped back to reality as Jihl was just saying something.

"Take her back to her cell." Jihl ordered as Cid stood Lightning up. _What was the_ _point in that? _Lightning thought as Cid led her back to her cell by the chain leach around the collar she

wore. During the walk back Lightning had some more time to daydream about the memory she was having.

_Lightning's eyes fluttered open to see that Cid was shaking her bare leg to wake her up. "I'm up I'm up." Lightning said drowsily sitting up and rubbing her eyes._

_"Why'd you wake me?" Lightning asked groggily looking Cid in the eye._

_"Well were here. It's time to go to work." Cid explained as Lightning layed back down on the couch._

_"Well I'm calling in sick today." Lightning said bringing her left arm to cover her face, Cid fought to suppress a smile at Lightning's antics and at that moment Lightning moved her arm and opened _

_her eyes to see a smile on Cid's face and instantly Lightning's eyes lit up. "Cid your smiling!" She squealed as she shot up to look at him._

_"What's going on in here is something dying?" Yaag asked as he walked into the airship upon hearing Lightning's squeal._

_"No but guess what just died?" Lightning asked running over to Yaag._

_"What?" Yaag asked cautiously._

_"Cid's emo personality, he just smiled." Lightning said smiling herself._

_"Really?" Yaag asked surprised, Lightning nodded her head quickly in response her eyes shining with happiness._

_"Okay then let's get to work." Cid said walking past the two and out of the airship, Lightning, and Yaag followed him out. Their mission was to inspect a local village that was apparently harboring_

_l'cie that they were ordered to kill. Lightning didn't like the idea of mercilessly killing people but it was what she had to do to protect Cocoon. The three of them walked to the edge of the village _

_and hid behind some of the bushes that lined the village. "Okay we want to do this quickly and quietly. No need for unnecessary attention it could get ugly that way." Yaag said._

_"Okay I'm going in." Lightning told the others as she made her way unnoticed to a house that she pressed her back up against, she peeked around the corner to see that not a lot of people were out._

_Lightning slowly made her way to what they scouted out to be the base of operations, she looked through the window to see that there were a lot of people inside. Lightning closed her eyes as she_

_crouched down and planted the explosive charges on the house. Next she had to sneak into the house and steal the documents of what the terrorists attack points would be on her homeland._

_Lightning carefully opened the door making sure not to make a sound and slipped inside, while Yaag and Cid went about their part by taking out the patrolling l'cie who were acting like civilians._

_Lightning quietly moved down the hallway and to the stairs leading to the basement where the l'cie were gathered no doubt discussing their next attack. Once there she slowly peaked in on them_

_to see they were gathered around a table with some maps on it. "Yaag we have a problem." Lightning contacted him through her ear speaker._

_"What is it Light?" He replied._

_"Um...their kind of surrounding the documents I need." Lightning informed her superior as she moved out of sight just as one of the l'cie looked her way._

_"Okay wait it out and hopefully they'll break away from it soon." Yaag ordered Lightning._

_"Yes sir." Lightning said quietly as she went back up the stairs, and went to check the other rooms in the house which held nothing valuable other than some spare gil and potions._

_After a couple moments Lightning heard footsteps coming up the stairs "Shit!" She thought as she drew her sword. As soon as the person entered the room she shot him right between_

_the eyes, the shot muffled by a suppressor attached to the gun. Lightning wasted no time in fleeing the room and heading back downstairs to see the l'cie had left room and were in other places_

_in the house. She quickly but quietly made her way to the table that they were surrounding earlier only to find nothing was on it. Lightning heard someone running towards her on _

_the dirt floor so she waited a few moments until the enemy was close enough and back flipped over his head so she landed behind him. Lightning quickly drew Blaze Edge and swiped at the man but _

_he was able to duck and land a kick on her midsection sending her back into the wall knocking the air out of her. The man slowly walked towards her as Lightning played possom pretending as though_

_she were struggling to get air back in her lungs. When he was close enough Lightning knocked him to the ground with a sweep kick and followed it up by scooping up her sword and plunging it into_

_her assailant's chest. Then a door to her right was opened and Lightning switched her sword into gun mode and shot the unsuspecting man in the head killing him instantly. She then searched_

_the two men to find the documents she needed on each of them, Lightning then made her way back outside unseen and retreated to a safe distance at her Cid, and Yaag's meeting place._

_Lightning arrived to see the two men already there waiting for her. "Hello boys." Lightning greeted as she approached the two men._

_"Hey how did it go?" Cid asked embracing Lightning in a hug, which she returned before responding to the man's question._

_"It went good except for a couple of blindside attacks." Lightning said with a wave of her hand as they broke the hug._

_"Good now let's see some fireworks." Yaag said as Lightning took out the detonation switch and sadly pressed the button causing it to explode._


	11. Chapter 10: First Impressions

Sisterly Love Chapter 10: First Impressions, The Great Escape, and One Giant Sleepover

_Everything seemed to be going okay with the l'cie base destroyed and the inhabitants of it likely dead Lightning, Cid, and Yaag started to make their way over to the airship but the rumbling of the_

_ground stopped them. "What the hell is that?" Lightning asked looking around the now deserted village._

_"I don't know but let's get out of here." Cid said beginning to jog to the airship. Just then a big monster broke through the surface of the ground right beneath the airship and destroyed it before_

_landing in front of the group. "Ah fuck!" Yaag cursed retreating a couple steps back followed by Lightning, and Cid._

_"So this is what the l'cie were planning to attack us with." Lightning said absent minded while gazing up at the great beast that towered over her by a good fifteen to twenty feet._

_It resembled a dragon with it's red scaled body and big black wings which had a wingspan of about fifty feet it was a giant to say the least, as Lightning stared dumbfounded at both it's size and_

_unique beauty it had to it the dragon began to advance upon her. "Light get back!" Cid yelled to her as Lightning shook her head as she regained control of her body and thoughts._

_"Okay okay." She snapped back running towards Cid._

_"Alright what do we do?" Yaag asked the others frantically searching for an escape rout._

_"Um...it's got us cornered...were trapped." Lightning said seeing the beast blocking the one and only path out of the village._

_"Shit we can't fight it the thing is too big." Cid said looking back at the beast which began to throw it's head back._

_"Oh shit it's going to blow fire," Lightning said her eyes wide as she sprinted to the nearest house and just jumped behind it when it blew the fire, luckily the others had the same thought and _

_also took cover. "What the fuck are we supposed to do?" Lightning screamed angered at how the dragon was dominating the fight, and as it threw it's head back again Lightning whirled out _

_from her cover while drawing Blaze Edge and switching it to gun mode and began just firing several bullets into it's mouth. The effect of this attack stunned the dragon temporarily and Lightning_

_wouldn't let the opportunity slip by as she sprinted towards the giant and jumped up high in the air as she got a few feet from it and snapped her fingers to defy gravity as she leaped up onto_

_it's head and and began stabbing her sword down on it to see if it had an effect. The beast staggered a bit and began shaking it's head violently trying to throw the young girl from her tactical_

_position. Lightning sensing that she wouldn't be there for long slid down it's tail on her feet and sprinted out of the gate and forced the dragon to turn around allowing her team members_

_could advance towards the gate without being fried and they are able to escape the village. _

"Hey Light!" Lightning snaps out of her memory to see Fang leaning against the wall across from her saying her name over and over to get her attention.

"Mmmph?" Lightning moaned realizing that her legs are once more tied at the ankles immobilizing her.

"About time you came back you've been daydreaming for a while now." Fang said looking at Lightning's dazed eyes.

"Mmfg mmpf." Lightning growls out of frustration from testing her binds to see that there was no slack what so ever in them.

"Don't even try Light the only way were getting out is if you can seduce Cid to untie you." Fang said. "But I don't think he would fall for that." She finished.

"Maybe if you gave him some puppy dog eyes though...you always were good at that." Fang said as the thought came to her causing Lightning to blush at her comment.

* * *

"Okay guys it has been far too long for them to have been out just hunting." Sazh said walking out from the trees where he was peeing on a tree.

"Alright then what do we do?" Snow asked as Sazh took a seat on a nearby log.

"Well were pretty much fucked because either we leave and they come back and were separated again or we stay here and wait but if something really did happen to them then we'd

be waiting for a while." Sazh said looking out across the forest.

"Guys!" Serah ran yelling from where she was taking a walk tears in her eyes.

"What?" Snow asked alarmed at the thought of what might be wrong.

"I found something." She sobbed turning and running back in the same direction she came from. Once there Serah showed Snow, and Sazh the big area of pushed down grass that

resembled the size of an airship. "Okay so I think it's safe to say that they were kidnapped." Vanille said kicking a nearby stone.

"Well let's get out of here." Sazh said starting off in a direction as Snow brought Serah into his arms as she wept.

"Hey don't worry she has Fang with her this time she'll get out easily with her by her side." Snow comforted his fiancee.

* * *

Lightning and Fang had been sitting around waiting for something to happen. The boredom caused Lightning to think back at her first encounter with Fang.

_It was a year ago just after Lightning had left PSICOM for becoming a l'cie and the fact that they would either kill or capture her on sight depending on their mood. Lightning was running through_

_the Darkwood Forest near her hometown of Bowdam desperately trying to escape the trailing PSICOM forces that were chasing after her. She luckily came up on a factory used for making various_

_military related weapons and items. Lightning decided to take refuge inside of it and ambush the approaching forces, she was aware that they were being led by a very experienced woman who_

_had done a good job on tracking her position. "My cape probably gave me away." Lightning muttered to herself as she ran into the abandoned facility and climbed the stairs onto the catwalk where_

_she was hidden in the shadows. The factory was ideal for the element of surprise because it had no power what so ever running to it and was completely dark except for a couple of slivers of light_

_resonating from the windows. Not long after Lightning took her position did the woman confidently walked into the building carefully scanning the top floor for any movement, but Lightning knew _

_her eyes haven't adjusted to the dark yet so she creeped farther out of sight undetected. As Lightning had anticipated the woman had outrun her comrades leaving them in her dust, this worked_

_perfectly into Lightning's plan because she had intended on isolating the stronger girl to fight her alone. Lightning carefully made her way to the control panel to the facility and pressed a button_

_which caused the giant metal doors behind the tanned woman to slowly close and lock so the other soldiers could not get inside._

_"All right then how about showing yourself." Fang called out to the hidden girl. "You know." She said pausing. "You and me are allot alike." She said walking around the large open space beneath _

_the catwalk. "You know Cid? he's my brother though I can't say were exactly close." Fang laughed while shaking her head. "So how about you give me a good fight it's been a while since I've faced _

_a worthy opponent prove your mettle to me." Fang said trying to draw Lightning out of her hiding spot, Lightning closed her eyes and took a deep breath in before quietly drawing her gunblade and_

_jumping over the catwalk. Lightning striked down on her but Fang quickly drew her spear and blocked the attack and pushed up flipping Lightning over her head only to have the strawberry blond_

_land elegantly on her feet. Fang jumped at Lightning and the two then began a complicated series of expert attacks and blocks that went on for a good ten minutes. "Well you certainly are as good_

_as Cid says." Fang said as the two women's weapons collided and locked together in a struggle for dominance. "What's wrong why don't you say anything? cat got your tongue or are you just shy?"_

_Fang taunted as she was able to get her spear under Lightning's sword's hilt and flip it up out of her grasp. It landed far out of Lightning's reach so she back flipped out of the reach of Fang's spear_

_but also put herself in a corner with her back to the wall, the two women could barely see each other and the accuracy of their attacks was a testament to their great skill and abilities._

_"Name's Fang by the way." Fang introduced herself slowly closing off Lightning's chance of escaping the corner. "How about begging for your life it would be music to my ears." Fang said moving_

_closer to her opponent. Lightning's eyes quickly darted from side to side looking for a way to escape. Fang began twirling her spear in between her two fingers radiating confidence, both women_

_were glistening with sweat and the shines from their bodies were basically the only way to see each other. "I'm surprised you haven't said anything yet Cid always talks about how you've got a _

_smart mouth and sweet voice. But sadly I guess he'll never get to hear it again *sigh* but I guess if he wanted anyone to kill you it would be his little sister." Fang said raising her spear above her _

_head but before she could strike, Lightning formed a fireball in her hand and threw it at her. It connected with her wrist the searing pain was enough to cause Fang to stumble giving Lightning the_

_opportunity to kick her spear out of her hands. Fang recovered and the two engaged in hand to hand combat which consisted of them throwing punches and kicks which were blocked each time,_

_this continued for a good five minutes until Fang threw a punch that Lightning dodged by quickly falling to her knees that she followed up by performing a sweep kick that knocked Fang to the _

_ground. Lightning attempted to land a shot flush on Fang's face but the older woman grabbed her by the wrist and flipped the younger girl onto the ground. __At that moment the soldiers that Fang_

_left behind arrived at the factory and began attempting open the door but failed miserably. Lightning was dazed from her head colliding with the hard floor and could had trouble getting to her knees._

_Fang was able to jump to her feet and grab the younger girl and pin her to the wall. Lightning weakly attempted to break free but was unable to, her head still in a foggy haze of what was going on._

_"Well you are certainly more skilled than I could have imagined." Fang said breathing heavy from the intense fight. Lightning got her senses back and took in the situation, Fang had her pinned to_

_the wall holding her wrists above her head and pressing her body against Lightning's immobilizing her. Just as Lightning was accepting defeat the big iron doors exploded from the soldiers outside_

_causing Fang to lose her balance and release Lightning who fell to the floor due to lack of strength and seconds later she passed out. A couple weeks later Lightning awoke in what appeared to be a _

_hospital she took in her surroundings to find that her right wrist was handcuffed to the bed. "Shit." Lightning muttered then held her head as her headache let itself be known, a moment later_

_the door opened and the raven haired woman entered and took a seat beside her bed. "Hello it's nice to see you awake at last." Fang said looking Lightning in the eyes._

_Lightning responded by groaning and rolling on her side to face the opposite direction. "What do you want?" She asked not facing the other woman._

_"Not a proper introduction huh." Fang said smirking causing Lightning to turn and face her._

_"Oh I'm sorry it's so nice to meet you I'm Lightning." She said sarcastically causing Fang to laugh._

_"You know I like you." She stated watching the strawberry blonds flustered reaction._

_"Where am I?" Lightning asked the older girl._

_"In Eden." Was her short answer. "You know you've been out of it for quite a while." Fang said watching Lightning gaze around the room as if she were searching for something._

_"Really." Lightning replied not paying attention._

_"Yeah a couple weeks." Fang said before grabbing Lightning's chin and turning it to face her. "If your looking for this." Fang paused holding up Lighning's Blaze Edge for her to see. "It's right here."_

_Fang finished releasing Lightning's chin from her hold, Lightning went to grab it but Fang moved it away. "Not yet Lightning." Fang said as if she were her mother._

_"Wait a couple weeks?" Lightning asked surprised at how long she had been out unconscious, Fang nodded in response while placing Lightning's sword well out of her reach._

_"Yes. Now I hope your well rested." Fang said as Lightning let out a long yawn._

_"Well not really being unconscious doesn't really qualify as sleep." Lightning said laying her head back down on the pillow._

_"Alright then I'll be back in a bit." Fang said standing to leave._

_"Wait!" Lightning called out causing the woman to stop just before exiting the room. "Why are you being nice to me? I mean were...enemies." Lightning finished._

_"It's easy. I have respect for you, your a very head strong and independent girl that's a very rare quality...and you made a good first impression. Now get some sleep alright?" Fang said before _

_leaving Lightning to contemplate what she had said. Shortly after however she came back in the room. "Oh yeah and I forgot to mention...I don't think of you as my enemy." She said leaving_

_once again. A short while later Lightning fell fast asleep as her fatigue caught up with her._

_

* * *

_

Serah, Sazh, Snow, and Vanille had been walking for quite some time just trying to find a way to escape when they came across a strange noise coming from within the woods to their

left. Sazh, and Snow slowly went to check it out leaving Serah, and Vanille alone on the path,Serah nervously fiddled with Lightning's survival knife her eyes darting from side to side

at the slightest sound. Snow, and Sazh went deeper into the woods to try and locate the sound and as soon as they disappeared two PSICOM soldiers jumped out from behind Serah,

and Vanille and rendered the girls unconscious. The soldiers quickly scooped them up and retreated to their airship taking them away.

* * *

_Lightning awoke once again to the raven haired women walking into her room, she slowly opened her eyes and gazed up at the woman. "Hi." Lightning greeted sitting up rubbing her eyes._

_"Hey rested?" Fang asked as Lightning nodded her head._

_"Yeah a little so what's up why do I need to be rested?" Lightning asked focusing on Fang._

_"Um..the Sanctum mainly Jihl wants to test your strengths." Fang said taking the same seat from before._

_"How is she supposed to do that?" Lightning asked with a confused look on her face._

_"She wants to put you in an arena and have you fight a monster about ten times your size with only your gunblade and basically have you fight several of them over and over until you lose." Fang _

_said as Lightning's expression turned terrified. "Um..she can't do that." Was all the younger girl could say in denial of what her fate was to be._

_"Sorry hun but basically what she says is the law. She has the whole Sanctum backing her." Fang said convincing Lightning that she was all but dead now._

_Lightning hung her head in defeat as Fang smirked. "But all is not lost. I'm going to help you escape." Fang said lowering her voice so no one passing the room could here._

_"But why?" Lightning asked surprised that the wild haired woman would help her after their fight._

_"Two reasons my first one being that I can't allow the Sanctum to just kill such a gorgeous girl out of cold blood. And two they are after my little cousin Vanille because she is a l'cie too." Fang _

_whispered into Lightning's ear. "Thank you." Lightning said before making a point of her handcuffed wrist. "Now please take this thing off it's pretty tight." She said moving it up and down so it_

_made a clanking noise from grinding against the bedpost. "Alright." Fang said taking out the key and freeing Lightning's wrist from the restraining device._

_"Alright let's get out of here..I hate hospitals." Lightning said staggering to her feet as Fang handed her Blaze Edge, Lightning quickly holstered it and stumbled over to the door resting against it._

_"What's wrong with me I can barely walk." She asked looking out the door to make sure it was clear._

_"Jihl had us drug you so it would make your escape that much harder." Fang said walking over to the girl, who was swaying uneasily._

_"Shit I don't feel so good." Lightning said stumbling over to the bathroom in the corner and proceeding to throw up into it. Fang walked over and held her hair back._

_"I don't think your ready yet." She said as Lightning continued to spill her innards into the bowl._

_"What the hell did that drug do to me?" Lightning asked before throwing up again._

_"Oh right. It makes it hard for you to walk and if you walk for too long I think Jihl says it will cause you to throw up." Fang said remembering what the woman had said._

_"Damn I can hardly feel my legs." Lightning said wiping her mouth with a nearby towel before flushing the toilet._

_"Yeah it'll do that." Fang said helping Lightning over to the bed. "Listen I don't think your ready to try and escape." She continued pushing Lightning back onto the bed._

_"Let's just go it should wear of along the way." Lightning said trying to get up only to have Fang push her back down._

_"No it won't I heard it's long lasting as in days and weeks that kind of long." She said taking the same seat from before._

_"Um...I can't wait that long can I?" Lightning asked the older woman._

_"No." Fang replied as Lightning sat back up._

_"Then why are you forcing me to lay hear instead of attempting an escape?" Lightning asked._

_"Because whether you like it or not you won't be able to get out in your condition." Fang said as Lightning looked down as in a deep thought._

_"Then get Cid to...I don't know carry me." Lightning said looking back up at Fang._

_"I guess he will help. He's always talking about how close the two of you are." Fang said crossing her arms before standing up. "I'll go see if he can help." She said before leaving._

_Lightning decided to take a little cat nap until Fang came back hopefully with Cid. Later on in the day Lightning's eyes fluttered open to see a figure sitting in the chair to her right._

_"Wakey wakey dear." A familiar voice spoke. Lightning turned her head and flinched upon seeing Jihl sitting there with a smile on her face._

_"What do you want?" Lightning asked weakly and sleepily causing Jihl to laugh._

_"You always were really groggy whenever you woke up." Jihl reminisced while staring into Lightning's piercing blue eyes._

_"Answer my ques-" Lightning fliched as Jihl's gloved hand started stroking her cheek. "Okay can you let me go now?" Lightning asked coming back to her senses._

_"No.I enjoy your company too much." Jihl said playing with a strand of Lightning's hair._

_"Too bad I don't enjoy yours then." Lightning said coldly pulling her face away from Jihl's hand._

_"Oh come on dear you know I love you." Jihl said causing Lightning's eyes to widen._

_"Then let me go and if I come back then I'm yours to keep." Lightning said making Jihl laugh._

_"We both know you won't though." Jihl said laughing. "And plus I like having complete control over you." She finished once more petting Lightning's hair._

_"Ha too bad you can't control what I say." Lightning laughed bitterly causing Jihl to smile._

_"But I could. But unfortunately I don't think you would much enjoy that. However much I would." Jihl said making Lightning shiver._

_"Leave me alone you sadistic lesbian." Lightning snapped pulling at her cuffed wrist in an attempt to escape the restrainment device that was holding her to the bed._

_"Now now Lightning. Didn't your parents ever teach you that there's nothing wrong about being who you are?" Jihl asked as Lightning stopped attempting to get out and turned to her._

_"Please leave." Lightning said tired of Jihl's presence mocking every word that left her mouth._

_"As you wish my dear. You see Lightning all's you have to do is ask politely." Jihl said as she left the room. A few hours later Fang, and Cid had managed to get Lightning out of the facility and into_

_the saftey of her own home. _

Lightning was snapped out of her reverie by the sound of the door opening, she looked up to see Cid, and Yaag leading Vanille, and Serah into the cell with their hands tied behind

their backs. Lightning growled at the two her eyes blazing with rage as Serah ran over to her.

"Oh my God Lightning are you okay?" She asked sobbing pressing her body up against her sisters as a sort of hug.

"Mmmf mmm." Lightning moaned resting her head on Serah's shoulder as Fang glared at Cid.

"For crying out loud Cid will you take that thing out of her mouth yet?" She asked glaring at her older brother.

"I can't it's Jihl's orders to keep her quiet." He said looking over at Lightning who was badly wanting to talk with her baby sister to comfort her.

"Oh come on have a heart." Fang said trying to convince Cid.

"Fine but only for a little while...baby sister." Cid said causing Fang to flinch upon hearing her title, Cid walked over to Lightning, and Serah as Vanille took a seat beside Fang.

"Hey Light." He greeted as he knelt down and tugged the ball loose and removed it from her mouth letting it fall to hang around her neck.

"Ah!..um thanks Cid." Lightning said looking up at the dark looking man before looking down at Serah. "I'm fine Serah." She responded to Serah's question.

"Good. How did they catch you?" She asked looking up at her older sister.

"We were surrounded at our campground." Lightning told her before looking at Cid. "Can you give us a little privacy?" She asked angrily.

"Sure babe." He said making Lightning frown at what he called her before walking over to Fang, and Vanille. "I'll find a way to get you girls out of here." He told her before standing and

leaving the room.

* * *

Half an hour later after discovering that Vanille, and Serah had been taken too Sazh, and Snow were trudging moodily through Pulse trying to find a way out when they heard a twig snap

behind them. Sazh whirled around pulling out his guns as he did so, Snow did the same readying an ice spell in the direction of the sound. Out of the shadows stepped a man with dark hair

and wore a white suit that immediately screamed sanctum to the two l'cie. "Who are you?" Snow asked, the man's response was walking into the dimming sunlight.

"Cid?" Snow asked as he saw the man he knew from a couple years ago. "Lightning's friend?" He finished staring at the other man before him.

"That is correct." Cid spoke walking towards the two with his hands raised. "I am here to help you." He spoke calmly as Sazh reluctantly holstered his guns as Snow canceled his spell.

"Alright so start helping wheres Lightning?" Sazh asked not very kindly as Cid stopped a few feet from the two men.

"She is on a flying fortress along with your other female friends. It will be quite difficult to rescue her." Cid spoke as Sazh grinded his teeth in anger.

"So what do we do?" Snow asked wondering how in the world they would be able to save their companions.

"My plan is to sneak the two of you aboard on my small airship that the PSICOM don't have authority to search because of my high ranking upon them." Cid explained his plan.

"And once aboard the two of you can change into regular PSICOM armor that covers your face allowing you to discreetly infiltrate the fortress. But getting them out is the hard part."

"What do you mean? it should be easy enough." Sazh cut into Cid's explanation angered that it would be difficult to save Lightning who he secretly has a crush on. _But I do think Serah_

_has figured it out by now _Sazh thought thinking back to when Lightning was leaning on his shoulder and Serah came running out and stopped in front of them with a big smile on her face

and said something along the lines of "I told you Lightning." was that it? Sazh hadn't noticed that they had already began walking in a direction and before him was an airship like the

one he used to fly. The three entered the ship and Sazh started it up and flew off towards where Cid said the flying fortress was waiting.

* * *

Lightning's ears felt as though they were about to fall off. The last half hour had consisted of Vanille, and Serah making nervous small talk while occasionally humiliating her with their

questions directed towards her that she could not answer since Yaag had returned and gagged her again which just added to her anger and frustration with the current situation.

"So Light how do you feel about the economy lately?" It was Serah who asked this only to tease her.

"Gmmr." Lightning growled in response trying to tell Serah to shut up, and that it's not funny.

"Come on now Serah leave your dear sister alone." Fang said smiling at Lightning's reaction to the constant barrage of questions Serah, and Vanille were assaulting her with.

_Jeez why is everybody in a good mood? Were being held captive for crying out loud! kidnapped! do they even know what the word means. Kidnap: To take away to a undisclosed location against_

_one's will i.e to seize and detain unlawfully. I mean is it really that hard to understand it's in freaking Webster for pete's sake! not really the kind of situation to be happy in. God I'm tired I guess_

_I'll take a little nap. _Lightning thought before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

* * *

Sazh expertly maneuvered the airship into the now open hangar of the flying fortress that held his, and Snow's friends. "So what is this thing called?" He asked looking back to face Cid.

"It's called the Doppelganger." Cid said walking over to a closet before taking two PSICOM uniforms for Sazh, and Snow to change into.

"That's an odd name why is it called the 'Doppelganger'?" Snow said the name of the fortress in a mocking manner while making gestures with his hands.

"You see how it is shaped like a sphere." Cid said handing the two men the armored uniforms.

"You mean it is a sphere." Snow corrected cutting Cid off.

"Whatever." The dark haired man said quickly waving off Snow's statement before proceeding. "It got it's name because it is sort of like a duplicate of Cocoon there for makes it a replica-

a doppelganger." Cid explained before ushering off Snow, and Sazh to get changed. Five minutes later they were exiting the airship in full disguise ready to find and save their friends.

"Okay it seems fate is on our side." Cid said pausing as the three passed some PSICOM soldiers. "They are shipping out some civilians that had come in contact with Pulse so if we

hide Light, and the others in the robes worn by these people it should make it easier to get them out of here." Cid explained picking up the pace they were walking at to hurry up their

'operation'. "Wait they bring the infected people here?" Sazh asked surprised that the Sanctum would risk an epidemic in their own multi-million gil facility.

"Yes they are confident that they can handle anything thrown at them." Cid said turning down a hall that was heavily guarded. "Okay here we are." He said leading them to the door with

the most security. Cid nodded to the two guards on each side of the door as they started to unlock it.

"What brings you here Brigadier Raines?" The man on the left spoke after he finished unlocking the cell door.

"Jihl has ordered that the prisoners be transported to a more secure location." Cid responded opening the door and walking through it.

"What do you want?" Fang snarled as soon as he entered.

"I'm here to get you guys out." He said quickly walking over to a drawer hidden in the corner of the room. Opening it he pulled out four collars linked together by a leather strap.

"So why aren't your goons doing anything?" Fang asked staring at the two men standing in the entrance. Snow, and Sazh responded by taking off their helmets to reveal their identities.

"You goofs really?" She asked laughing at the two mediocre-in her eyes-fighters. Sazh went over to Lightning and shook her awake from her deep sleep.

"What? huh? Sazh what are you doing here?" Lightning asked groggily as he took the ball out of her mouth.

"What I wanna know is how you can sleep like that." Sazh said untying her legs before going on and doing the same for Serah, while Snow untied Fang, and Vanille's legs helping them to

their feet. Cid came walked back over to the group with the collars in hand, Lightning gulped loudly as Cid came over to her and put the first one on her. Next in the line was Serah

followed by Vanille, and ending with Fang. "We have to keep the appearance of you guys being prisoners up so they don't get suspicious." Cid explained as he walked back over to the

drawer. He pulled out four black bags made of heavy material and put one over each of the captive's head. He paused in front of Lightning smiling.

"Sorry Light but this needs to go back in just in case we run into Jihl." Cid said taking the large ball in his hand. "Open wide?" He asked, Lightning reluctantly opened her mouth allowing

Cid to push it back into her mouth causing Lightning to gag because of the size of the thing. Cid then locked it in place before placing the final bag over her head, he could hear her

muffled growl through the thick material as he took the leach in hand. The collars linked the four women together so they couldn't make a break for freedom.

"Hey I can hardly breath in hear!" Serah complained as Cid was leading them through the cell door followed by Snow, and Sazh.

"I thought you were going to disguise them." Snow said walking up to Cid's side.

"I thought it would be faster this way." Cid said as he led the girls down another hall, the task proved to be tricky for they couldn't move to fast or it would cause the girls to lose their

balance. But they eventually made it successfully back to the hangar where their airship was already turned on and ready for them.

"What's going on?" Sazh asked worried about who might be in their airship. A man with shoulder length brown hair stepped out of the aircraft upon seeing Cid's return with the 'prisoners'

"Rygdea how's everything?" Cid asked the man which calmed Sazh, and Snow down upon learning the two were acquainted, however the girls showed no change in behaviour for they

could not see what was going on. "Everything checks out fine." The man Rygdea spoke in a calm deep voice as he stepped aside to let the intruders onto the airship.

Once aboard Cid took all the collars off of the captives and removed the sacks from their heads, in unison all three of them took in a gasp of fresh air except Lightning who's mouth was

pretty full at the time. Snow, and Sazh entered the ship and took off the uniforms so they were wearing their normal clothing, Sazh went over to Lightning and relieved her of her gag

which caused her to go into a coughing fit before taking several deep breaths. Then Snow, and Sazh each untied two women each finally relieving them of their much hated bonds.

"Okay let's get out of here." Rygdea said firing up the airship and then flying it out of the hangar. "It's all yours." He said stepping aside to allow Sazh to take the controls.

"So where to?" The dark skinned man asked the group of people behind him.

"I don't know about you guys but take me home I need to sleep in my own bed tonight." Lightning spoke up recovering from her coughing fit.

"Okey dokey." Sazh said setting the auto pilot to the nearest station to Lightning, and Serah's home.

Serah saw Lightning looking around frantically for something and approached her. "Don't worry hear it is." She said handing Lightning her Blaze Edge in it's holster.

"Thanks Serah." Lightning said letting out a sigh of relief before hugging her sister tightly.

What seemed like a couple hours later the airship was pulling into the airport of the sisters hometown, the group quickly got off the airship and made their way to Lightning's home.

Lightning unlocked the door letting them all inside and made their way down the hall and into the living room where Cid confessed his love for her.

"Nice place you got here." Rygdea said as he looked around the rather large room which consisted of a white bar to the left of the room and a t.v surrounded by two love seats and a

couch on the right side of the room. "Thanks." Lightning, and Serah chorused before looking at each other with amusement in their eyes.

"So what's the plan?" Fang asked flopping herself down on the couch.

"Well you guys are welcome to spend the night if you wish but tomorrow I would like to do something about that flying fortress." Lightning replied while yawning although it was only

six thirty in the afternoon. "You mean the doppelganger." Snow said once more waving his arms around making fun of the name.

"Whatever." The strawberry blond snapped back at the older man, as she walked over to the couch and sat down as Fang made room for her. Serah, and Snow took a seat on the love

to the right of the couch while Cid, and Rygdea sat on the opposite seat and Vanille sat on the couch beside Lightning. The seven of them watched t.v for a little while until it was dark.

"Well I'm going to bed." Lightning stated yawning and stretching her arms.

"Wait what about sleeping arrangements?" Snow asked causing Lightning to stop in front of the stairs leading to her, and Serah's rooms.

"Oh yeah that's right Snow you'll be sleeping on the floor." She said jokingly causing Fang, and Serah to burst out laughing.

"Touche Lightning you got me there." Snow admitted while chuckling himself.

"Okay but seriously...um I'm sleeping in my bed obviously..uh we'll have to share beds Serah can share with-" Lightning was cut off by Snow.

"Me right?" He asked like an excited puppy.

"Vanille. That's right Snow I don't trust you but I will be kind enough to allow you to use the guestroom I guess you'll share with Rygdea since I don't know him well and it would be rude to

not give him a bed in my own home. And I guess I'll share with..Fang sorry Cid you got the couch." Lightning finished giving Cid an apologetic look.

"Not a problem." He replied while getting nested in for the night. The rest of the lucky people who have been chosen to sleep in beds for the night made their way up the stairs.

Lightning, and Fang entered Lightning's room and kicked off their boots. "So why didn't you pick to share with Cid." Fang asked as she climbed into the bed.

"I still don't trust him." Lightning said as she stripped down and got into her pink nightgown that went to her mid thigh.

"Yeah I don't blame you." Fang said as the other woman made her way over to the bed. "Which side do you want?" Fang asked as Lightning grabbed a couple of extra pillows from the

dresser beside her bed. "Um...I'll take the right." Lightning said climbing in the right side as Fang shifted over.

"I didn't think you wore pink." Fang said as she eyed Lightning's gown, Lightning shrugged at her statement.

"It was a gift from Serah." She said sitting up in the bed. "The bathroom is over there in case your wondering...I don't think you've ever been in my room." Lightning said pointing at the

bathroom door in the far corner of the room before she turned off the lights. "Alright and no I haven't been in here before...it's nice very large and clean." Fang said gazing around the

now dark room, her eyes falling on her younger friend, "You know that gown is longer than your skirt." The tanned woman said smiling, Lightning turned a shade of red before responding.

"Shut up." She said playfully before laying her head down on the pillow, Fang laughed before doing the same. Five minutes later as both women were about to fall asleep they started to hear

some murmuring through the wall behind their heads. "Vanille, and Serah talking go figure." Lightning said tossing her legs over the side of the bed, slipping her feet into pink bunny slippers

and walking around the side of the bed towards the door. Lightning abruptly turned around upon hearing Fang's laughter. "What?" She snapped as Fang kept laughing.

"Bunny slippers? pink bunny slippers?...really?" Fang said between laughs.

"Another gift from Serah! and plus their nice and soft." She said turning red once more, before leaving the room and walking down the hall to Serah's room where she lightly tapped the door.

"Come in it's open!" Her _dear _little sister called from inside the door. Lightning opened the door and stepped inside shutting it from behind her.

"Okay you two you may not notice it but we can hear your oh so sweet little voices through the wall so if you two could just quiet down a little bit or even better go to bed it would be greatly

appreciated." Lightning said trying her best to sound sweet, and it appeared to work for Serah, and Vanille just stared at her.

"Wow I thought Serah was joking when she said you have a soft and sweet side." Vanille said seriously looking at the beauty before her.

"Hey your wearing the gown and slippers I got you!" Serah said excitedly pointing at said objects.

"Um..yeah I always do." Lightning said turning red, and walking over to the girls where she kneeled by their bed. "So can you guys quiet down?" She asked daringly batting her eyelashes.

In response Serah, and Vanille just stared at her for a bit shocked and stunned at the fact that she actually just did that, and how beautiful it was.

"Sure sis." Serah said getting her wits back.

"Thanks baby." Lightning replied before exiting the room, she then went downstairs for a glass of water. Feeling the cool air on her exposed skin the strawberry blond retrieved her red satin

robe that rested at the end of the railing of the stairs where she left it the last time she slept in her own bed. Putting it on and tying the front the robe came down just past where her gown

ended. Lightning walked up to the bar and began pouring a glass, turning on the sink she heard a shuffle from the couch.

"Lightning?" Cid asked sitting up to get a better look at her.

"Yeah?" She responded turning the sink off.

"Can you come over here for a minute?" He asked making room for her on the couch, Lightning reluctantly made her way over and sat down with her water in hand.

"So what do you want?" Lightning asked crossing her legs. "And before you say anything these bunny slippers were a gift from Serah, and their nice and soft." She said before taking a drink

from her glass. "Oh they look good on you." Cid said causing Lightning to cross her arms across her chest and narrow here eyes slightly.

"So what do you want? it's kind of late." Lightning said her eyes glancing at the clock of the DVD player which read 1:35.

"Um..I was wondering if you thought about what I said." Cid confessed looking into Lightning's captivating blue eyes.

"No I haven't it hasn't been on my mind seeing as you kidnapped me..you..you..you gagged me God Cid do you know how humiliated I was?" Lightning said angrily towards the man.

"I'm sorry Light, but I also helped you out." Cid said trying to get through to the younger girl.

"True but...God I don't know. Wait what were you even going to do to me in Eden?" Lightning hissed remembering the events of him slamming her against the wall.

"I...was lustful I thought you would never date me so I was going to take what I yearned for." Cid admitted finding it hard to look her in the eyes.

"...You were going to rape me?...take my innocence?...I..I can't believe you!" Lightning yelled the last part before promptly standing up and slapping him hard across the face leaving a red

hand print where she connected. "You are nothing but a monster." She stated before going back to her room.

_Damn what have I done? _Cid thought as he held his head in his hands. _I can't believe I actually thought of doing that to her. _He continued as his concious basically ate him alive.

Lightning slammed the door to her room shut as she began to pace the length of floor beside the bed to try and burn off some of her rage, Fang looked up at her still awake.

"What's wrong Light?" She asked but received no answer as the woman continued to pace. "Lightning." She said seriously causing her to stop.

"Your brother." Lightning snarled at the thought of him. "He's a fucking animal." She hissed grabbing her gun blade from the dresser raising it above her head before stopping herself from

breaking something. "What happened?" Fang asked calmly hoping her demeanor would calm the woman down.

"He..argh..back in Eden you know when I was first kidnapped. Well I didn't get out by myself I somehow tricked him into untying me.. and well..he..I." Lightning suddenly found it hard to

get the words out. "It's okay babe just stay calm and the words will just roll off your tongue." Fang said patting the place beside her so that Lightning went and sat there.

"It's just that he had me in a pretty compromising position. And just now downstairs he admitted that he planned on taking my virginity..he was going to rape me." Lightning said taking

deep breaths to calm down, Fang took the sword from Lightning's trembling hands and placed it on the dresser.

"Hey it's okay." Fang said sitting up on the edge of the bed beside the fuming girl while putting an arm around her shoulders and giving her a light comforting squeeze.

"But you gotta learn that the fact is that is most men's first thought when they see a beautiful young lady such as yourself...it blows there mind to where it's all they think about." Lightning

smiled sightly at what Fang had said turning to face her. "You know your pretty good at this." She said giving Fang a hug. "Thanks Fang I don't know what I'd do with out you." She said

making the older woman smile. "Lightning? what's wrong?" A sleepy Serah had made her way into her sister's room unnoticed.

"Um..nothing Serah go back to bed." Lightning said not wanting Serah to know about the topic at hand.

"Nothing my ass Lightning. You don't just slam the door to your room and not tell me why." Serah said waking up.

"Watch your mouth Serah!" Lightning repremanded surprised by Serah's use of foul language that she never used.

"Well I'm sick of you never telling me things that obviously hurt you deep Lightning, and you won't even tell your own sister." Serah said expressing her suppressed feelings.

"...I'm sorry Serah." Lightning said ducking her head. "But I really don't want to tell you this." She admitted looking up at her little sister.

"Lightning I'm your sister if you can't tell me then I don't know how you can tell anyone." Serah said taking a seat beside her sister.

"I'm sorry Serah I guess I'll start opening up to you. I had no idea how much it affected you. And that's why I didn't tell you so I wouldn't worry you. But it seems that's what I was doing all

along." Lightning said unable to hold Serah's gaze so she instead focused on the smooth hardwood floor.

"Hey how about starting now." Serah said softly gently grabbing and turning Lightning's face to look her in the eye.

"Hey I'll leave you two alone I'll sleep with Vanille tonight." Fang said rubbing Lightning's back before leaving the room.

"Okay I'll tell you." Lightning breathed. "You know Cid downstairs? When I was in Eden he untied me, and I attempted to fight him off but still being weak from lack of food, water he was able

to pin me to the wall in a compromising position and-" Lightning stalled finding it hard to speak.

"It's okay just relax your mind." Serah said rubbing Lightning's leg to help calm her.

"And he just told me when I was downstairs that he planned on...r-raping me. Taking my innocence." Lightning finished immediately hugging her sister suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.

"It's times like this that make me really miss mom. Wish she was here." Lightning choked out as a few of her tears fell onto the floor.

"Claire." Lightning's eyes snapped up to Serah's at the mention of her true name.

"Yes?" She asked softly upon hearing her name after all these years.

"It's okay to cry. I miss her too, but just think if she were here she would be extremely proud of you." Serah said smiling sadly at the memories of their mother.

"Thanks Serah." Lightning said giving her sister another hug.

"Now." Serah said leaning back. "Tell me more." She said laying down on the bed pulling Lightning down beside her.

"Fine." Lightning sighed. That night Serah was able to pull Lightning from her shell in her vulnerable, and emotional state making Lightning tell her about all her troubles from the past year

causing Lightning to cry more that night then she did her whole life since her mother's death and she took on the adopted name of Lightning. The two sisters fell asleep hugging one another

in a comforting way with Serah finally content that Lightning finally opened up to her and spoke of her fears, and worries. And Lightning glad that she had gotten all of her troubles off her

chest, and happy to of finally opened up to Serah, and admitted her fears and what scared her most- losing her little sister even if was only her being married to Snow, and that is why she

has been bitter towards him since the day they met. Her most guarded fear was also the most unavoidable.

* * *

**Oh yes and gagboy Jihl is a lesbian in this story, and is going to come onto, and make passes at Lightning.**


	12. Chapter 11: Every One Needs Some Hope

Sisterly Love Chapter 11: Everyone Needs A Little Hope In Their Lives

Serah awoke the next morning to find Lightning still asleep clutching her tightly as if she had a nightmare. But Serah knew it was from the talk they had from the night before. She slowly

untangled herself from Lightning's arms and made her way quietly out of the room to not disturb her dear sister. Serah descended the stairs to find the rest of her companions already

up and about. "Where's Sazh?" She questioned. _Come to think of it I haven't seen him since we got off the airship. _She thought taking a seat at one of the bar stools beside Snow.

"He headed back to his place to see Dajh, and his wife." Snow said taking a sip of what looked like alcohol.

"Snow please tell me your not drinking this early in the morning." Serah said turning to face the giant of a man who also turned to face her.

"Um.....no?" Was all he could come up with. Serah promptly shook her head before taking her cup and pouring the remaining contents down the sink.

"Hey!" Snow yelled as he watched his liquid gold disappear from view. Just then Fang entered the room yawning, and rubbing her eyes.

"God I'm never sleeping with Vanille again. She is just one big chatterbox." The woman stated taking a seat beside Serah before resting her head in her hands.

"Really I didn't find it that hard." Serah said referring to before she, and Lightning had their talk.

"It's because you talk too. Like you don't even need sleep." Fang mumbled into her hands. A moment later she raised her head to look Serah in the eye.

"Speaking of which how did it go with Lightning last night?" She asked raising her eyebrows in anticipation.

"It went well. She explained what was making her angry, and then she went on to tell me about her doubts, and fears." Serah answered quietly so Snow couldn't eavesdrop.

"Hmm that's good I take it she doesn't open up to you often?" Fang asked back out of curiosity.

"Yeah it's been awhile. Six years to be exact." Serah answered the question. Just then Fang saw Serah give the 'evil eye' to some unlucky sap who walked by. She turned to see it was

Cid, Lightning's wannabe rapist, and lover. "Oh yeah I gotta deal with him today." Fang said also glaring at her older brother. "Preferably before Lightning gets up." She finished.

"Hey if you two are brother, and sister how come your tan while he isn't?" Snow asked slurring his words from the other drink he obtained.

"When our parents divorced I went with my father to Pulse while Cid stayed with my mother in Cocoon." Fang explained causing Snow to nod his head extremely slow.

Fang got up and went to confront Cid. "Hey!" She called out to her older brother pulling him into another room.

"Hey! what do you want?" He asked yanking his arm free of Fang's grasp.

"Lightning told me about what you tried to do." She stated looking up into her brother's eyes, while having to stand on her tippy toes to get face to face.

"Oh yeah." Cid said knowing he was in trouble and most likely about to recieve and earful from his little sister.

"How could you do that?" She snapped at him.

"I don't know." He responded not knowing what to say to her as most likely any answer would result in her erupting.

"You don't know. Why would you even try to rape a young woman in a vulnerable position you animal." Fang hissed attempting to keep her voice down.

"I didn't even tell her the whole thing." Cid said putting a hand to face, Fang raised her eyebrows exactingly.

"What do you mean the whole thing?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"Um..well..I was going to..er..kidnap her." He said dropping his head in shame.

_SMACK!_

As expected Fang had slapped Cid clean across the face no doubt leaving a bruise. "Kidnap her?" Was all she could say.

"Yes take her back to my place, and keep her there...against her will." He managed to get out although his mouth was already swelling up.

"You imbecile...okay I don't know whether you should tell her your full plan or not. But if you do you'll lose her forever if you already haven't." Fang said softly before leaving him to ponder

her statement. _I think I already have. _He thought feeling his heart ache at the thought of not being with her or even talking to her ever again.

Fang reentered the living room to see that Snow was now attempting to cook some pancakes although he didn't seem drunk anymore.

"Is Light up yet." The tan woman asked Serah who was still in her seat from before poking at the pancakes on her plate with a fork.

"No let's let her sleep she's been through a lot lately." Serah responded looking up to meet the other woman's eyes.

"Yeah hopefully she doesn't get mad when she does wake up to find that it is nine thirty." Fang chuckled knowing the young woman still would not be pleased although it was still relatively

early in the morning. "Yeah she would probably complain and say that she wanted up at six." Serah chuckled taking a sip of what looked like apple juice.

"What did Cid have to say?" Serah spoke after a few moments.

"You don't even want to know." Fang replied watching Snow cook which in fact looked really goofy as he was too clumsy to really make anything.

"Why not." Serah asked curious to what the man had said.

"Because you would kill him." The raven haired woman said as Cid entered the room, Serah looked behind her to see Cid's face was swollen considerably and that a hand print was visible

on his face. "I take it you did that?" She asked motioning over as Cid flopped down on the couch and layed his head back letting out a sigh.

"Yeah." Was Fang's answer. "How dare he try to do that to little sis." She finished her eyes flashing with anger towards her brother.

"Well I guess I'll go check on her." Serah said before leaving to go check on her older sister. Serah silently slipped into Lightning's room softly closing the door behind her, she gazed at the

bed to see Lightning was still fast asleep. Serah smiled upon seeing her sister's peaceful slumber and left the room after watching her sleep for a half hour Lightning's soft even breathing

relaxing her, making her content as she left her sister to sleep in peace.

"Ah!" A couple hours later Lightning shot up her chest heaving, her breaths heavy. "Another nightmare." She whispered. "I thought I could leave them behind me." She said to herself

climbing out of bed. "A couple more nights of peaceful sleep and I'm sure they'll go away it's just the fatigue." She said to herself as she put on her red satin robe from the night before.

Lightning slipped on her bunny slippers and exited the room to head downstairs. Upon her arrival she saw that Rygdea, and Cid were on one couch while Snow, and Vanille were on the

other with Fang, and Serah at the bar. "Hey sleepy head!" Snow called as he saw the young woman walk down the stairs. "Nice slippers." He added.

"Shut up I like them." She snapped still sleepy from her deep sleep.

"I knew you always did." Serah said as Lightning flashed her a smile on her way to the fridge, where she poured some orange juice into a glass and took a long drink.

"My mouth was dry." She stated upon seeing Fang, and Serah's stare.

_Knock!Knock!Knock!_

The sound of the door turned the two girls attention away from the strawberry blond.

"I'll get it." Lightning said walking into the hall and towards the door. She opened the door to reveal a boy with silvery white like hair wearing a yellow, and orange jacket with green pants,

and green shoes. "What is it Hope?" Lightning asked clearly still tired.

"Where have you been? I was worried about you!" He said almost yelling as he let himself in.

"What do you want?" Lightning repeated her question crossing her arms over her chest.

"To see you." He replied turning back to face her.

"Why?" She questioned the boy's antics.

"Does there have to be a reason?" He shot back with another question.

"Your deflecting." Came Lightning's quick reply causing the white haired boy to blush.

"Um..well..I..was worried." Hope stuttered before his eyes bulged out of his head upon seeing Lightning's attire. _Mommy. _He thought staring at her curvy figure, and legs.

"Relax. I already know about the crush you have on me." Lightning said jokingly before seeing the gawking boy. "Hey chief. My eyes are up here." She snapped making Hope look up at her.

"Sorry." He muttered. _How does she know about my crush? _Hope thought as he heard Lightning's earlier comment. "So where were you?" He asked trying to compose himself.

"Um...well I was kidnapped twice, stuck on Pulse for a bit, and took a cruise on a flying fortress." Lightning said recalling where she had been.

"You got kidnapped!" Hope yelled surprised. _Damn that must have been hot. Why wasn't I there. _Hope kicked himself for missing the event.

"Yeah so why are you here? I'm fine you can go now." Lightning said starting to push the boy out the door.

"Okay thanks for your kind hospitality see you around. Glad your alright." And with those words Hope was gone. Lightning let out a sigh before heading back into the living room.

_That kid is always following me around. _She thought to herself as she sat down on the couch crossing her legs, which earned her a glance from Cid. Lightning turned away as she saw him

looking at her, and ogling her legs. "Who was at the door?" Snow asked out of curiosity.

"Oh it was just Hope." Lightning said turning to face him.

"What did he want?" He asked again.

"Um he was wondering where I was." Lightning answered the man's question.

"Huh I swear that kid follows you around like a dog." Snow said chuckling to himself.

"I know it's kind of awkward." Lightning said more so to herself than to Snow.

"Light can I-"

"Fuck off Cid!" Lightning snapped not wanting anything to do with him. Cid's response was slouching back into his seat.

"Okay." Snow said slowly looking to Lightning. "Something going on between you two?" He asked upon hearing Lightning's outburst.

"None of your business Snow just stay out of it." Lightning said turning away from the older man.

"Alright just wondering." Snow stated putting his hands up in surrender.

"Well don't." Lightning responded tapping her one foot that was on the floor repeatedly.

"So what's the plans for today?" Vanille asked in her accented tone.

"Um I don't really know." Lightning said with a sigh.

"I thought you were going to do something about the 'doppel-"

"Snow make fun of that name once more and I'll kick your ass!" Lightning snapped before he finished. "I know it's a stupid name but really every time you say it?" She finished glaring at the

man. "Okay okay." He responded.

"But I was thinking about taking a trip to Pulse." Lightning said absent minded speaking her thoughts.

"What no your insane!" Rygdea spoke hearing the younger girl's words.

"Um...you don't have to come." She stated turning to the man. "I'll go by myself if need be." She finished.

"I'll go." Fang spoke remembering their conversation by the camp fire down in Pulse.

"Alright." Lightning said nodding to the older woman. "Anyone else? Serah your not going." She finished once seeing Serah open her mouth to speak.

"What come on!" She protested once hearing she was not to tag along.

"I don't want you getting hurt. Your staying here." Her older sister said firmly. "I'll call Hope to keep you company." She finished.

"I want to go too." Cid said wanting to protect Lightning.

"Like hell you are!" This time it was Fang who snapped at the man.

"Argh!" Cid growled in frustration before dropping back onto the couch knowing it would be impossible to convince the two women to allow him to tag along.

"Alright then I'll call Hope...uh Snow?" Lightning asked hesitant of what she was about to say.

"Yes?" Snow asked raising his head to meet her eyes.

"Um...feel free to stay with Serah...she needs someone to protect her." His future sister-in-law finished quietly.

"Don't worry you can count on me." The big man beamed.

"I guess I can." Lightning muttered remembering how Snow had helped rescue herself, Fang, and Vanille. With a sight Lightning stood up and went to go call Hope.

_Ring! Ring! Ring! Seriously how long does it take for this boy to pick up the phone? _Lightning thought tapping her bunny slipper clad foot impatiently on the tiled floor.

"Hello?" _Finally! _Lightning thought before realizing the voice on the other end was female.

"Um hello Mrs. Estheim um is Hope there?" Lightning asked in a polite manner.

"Lightning! dear how have you been?" The kind woman asked making Lightning smile at her permanent sunny outlook on life, and kind generosity.

"I've been well." She responded twirling the phone cord with the index finger of her left hand.

"That's good, and little Serah?" Hope's mother asked genuinely caring about the two sisters health.

"She too has been in God's good graces." Lightning smiled before adding. "Still attached to Snow as ever."

"That's good I still can't wait for their wedding." The snowy blond woman replied thinking about Snow, and Serah.

"I on the other hand can wait a long time." Lightning said her mind also going to her sister, and future brother-in-law's wedding.

"Now now you must at least be a little excited about being the maid of honor?" The woman asked with what Lightning could hear in her voice that she was smiling.

"Huh quite the opposite." She replied thinking about the event, and wearing an obviously over feminine dress knowing Serah it was sure to be really girly.

"That's too bad I wish you could be more open to wearing such clothing with your gorgeous body, and looks. I must say that skirt of yours does your legs justice." At this point Lightning was

blushing furiously at the older woman's compliments. "Thank you Mrs. Estheim." Lightning said glad the woman could not see her face.

"Oh yes sorry you were calling for Hope? I apologize for taking up your time. No doubt someone as young as you probably has plenty of things to do." Hope's mother apologized.

"Oh no it's not a problem it's quite a pleasure to speak with you." Lightning sincerely replied for she did enjoy the older woman's company.

"And I you dear." Hope's mom replied. Lightning could hear her call for Hope followed by the rushed footsteps of the snowy haired boy as he rushed down some stairs and grabbed the phone

from his mother. "Hello?" He said upon retrieving said phone.

"Hey Hope can you come, and keep Serahsomecompany while I go to Pulse?" Lightning asked biting her bottom lip hoping the boy wouldn't ask if Snow was present.

"Um wait I'll ask my mom." Hope said before scurrying off in search of his mother. A few moments later he was back with the phone in his hand. "Yeah but you have to come pick me up."

"What? You can walk your lazy ass down here!" Lightning said shocked he couldn't walk the distance.

'Liiiiiiightniiiiiiiing." The boy said drawing the word out slowly in a complaining manner.

"Fine I'll be there soon." Lightning caved in with a sigh as Hope yelped with joy. After hanging the phone up Lightning went up to her room to get changed into her regular clothes- her

sleeveless white vest with a light brown sleeveless turtleneck underneath, and her short brown skirt, blue gloves with golden plates the left one having a black extension that traveled up

her arm ending a little bit above her elbow. After getting dressed she strapped her shoulder armor onto her left shoulder, and her red bag onto her left leg. Attaching her Blaze Edge in it's

holster in it's rightful place Lightning headed out the door and downstairs.

"Hey where are you off to missy?" Fang called out from the couch banging the remote off the table. "Damn your remote sucks!" She said finally getting it to work.

"Um..to go get Hope. And yeah we need a new remote I hate that thing." She stated turning towards the front door.

"Wait can I come?" Snow asked scrambling to his feet and rushing over to his future sister-in-law.

"You know he doesn't like you right?" Lightning asked frowning at why Snow tried so hard to gain the boy's favour.

"Doesn't mean I can't try." He stated smiling brightly.

"Uh huh." Was Lightning's response as she walked towards the door. "I don't care what you do." She said opening the door all the while hearing Snow's feet pound up beside her.

"Well I want to, and plus I want to spend more time with my sister." He stated smiling.

"Suit yourself." Lightning said as they made their way down the driveway to Lightning's Cadillac.

"I call shot gun!" Snow yelled jumping into the passenger seat.

"Where else are you going to sit?" Lightning asked before a thought struck her. "Although I should make you sit in the back like the baby you are." She said climbing into the drivers seat.

About twenty minutes later the two arrived at Hope's home parking along side the road.

"Stay here." Lightning told Snow before climbing out of her nice car.

"What why?" Snow asked with a mocking painful expression painted on his face.

"Because you'll scare him into not coming out." Lightning joked. "I'm just kidding do what you want." She said with a small laugh causing Snow to smile.

"Alright!" He beamed jumping out of the car and running up to the front door followed by Lightning who was walking.

After a few knocks of the door Hope's mother answered. "Oh hello dear." She greeted Lightning with a hug.

"Hello Mrs. Estheim." Lightning returned the greeting warmly.

"Looking lovely as always my my you sure do have the height of a model." The older woman said taking in Lightning's form.

"Thank you." Lightning responded blushing.

"Oh hello Snow." Hope's mother greeted the big man that somehow had kept out of sight.

"Hey." He greeted in his broski voice.

"Why don't you two come on in." The woman smiled stepping aside as the two youths entered the nice house. "I'm sure it will be a bit before Hope is ready please take a seat." She ushered

them into the living room which was off to the left of the front door. Snow, and Lightning took a seat beside each other on the soft sofa that layed before a television set.

"Doo doo do do da do do do do do do." Snow began whistling a song. (Beatrix's theme from FF9)

"Stop that." Lightning said smacking his arm making Snow abruptly stop. Moments later Hope entered the room quite happily.

"Hey Light!" He beamed upon seeing his friend.

"Hey." Said friend answered Hope's greeting. "Snow decided to tag along." She added flicking her head in the giant's direction.

"Oh." Hope answered looking over at the blond. "Well let's go!" He said heading in the direction of the front door.

The drive back to the Farron home was pretty awkward with Hope pretty much wanting to kill Snow, and Snow's pathetic attempt at small talk with the pale haired boy.

"Come on Hope sing it!" Snow exclaimed. He had been trying to get his companion to sing along to the songs on the radio for a good five minutes now but his two companions were ignoring

his requests. "Hey!" He yelled as Lightning turned off the radio.

"My car my music, which is nothing." Lightning said as the car came to a halt before a red light.

"Oh come on that's not fair I got you this for your birthday." Snow argued leaning on the two front seats with his head in between them. "It's bad enough you make me sit in the back instead

of Hope!" He finished.

"You done?" Lightning asked as the car started moving forward again. Snow nodded signaling he had given up trying to convince the younger girl.

"Sure am _little _sister." He said emphasizing the little part, which cause Lightning to turn to face him as they pulled into the driveway.

"Little huh?" Lightning asked staring straight into Snow's eyes.

"Yeah well you _are _five years younger than me." Snow said defending his case in the use of the word.

"Yeah, and your getting married to my _little_sister who is three years younger than me, which makes you eight years older than her." Lightning said putting just as much emphasis on her use

of the word little. "Wait Snow's getting married to Serah who's your younger sister even though he's older than you?" Hope asked gazing at Lightning who was still staring at Snow.

"Yeah weird huh?" Lightning said turning off her car, and climbing out.

"It's called true love sis you should try it." Snow said following her to the door.

"Riiiiightthat'swhatthe pedophile told the judge." Lightning said entering the house.

"Huh that's a good one Light." Snow said following her inside.

"Really Snow? sure if you were one year older than Light it would be alright but being she's _five _years younger than you it's just huh." Hope said still on the topic of Lightning, and Snow's age

differential. "Yeah Lightning's just a baby compared to me." Snow said grinning at his strawberry haired sister-in-law.

"Whatever." Was Lightning's quiet response as she went into the living room, followed by Snow, and Hope.

"So Lightning." Fang said as the younger girl took a seat beside her.

"Yeah?" Lightning asked as she crossed her right leg over the left.

"I was thinking about how much you've been through, and all lately so I thought that maybe you, and me could go out on the town tonight, and you know get drunk or something." Fang said.

"Huh." Was Lightning's response to the request.

"Oh come on. You know it would be a great way to relieve all that stress that you have going on there." Fang said waving a finger at Lightning.

"Well I suppose Pulse could wait another day." The strawberry haired woman thought aloud.

"Yeah!" Fang said clearly excited about the plans of drinking until vomiting, and waking up to an unwelcome headache the next day.

"Only the two of us though." Lightning said glaring at Cid as she said this.

"Alright then." Fang said clearly amused at what a drunk Lightning would say or do.

Eight o'clock came around quick for Lightning as it was time for her, and Fang to depart on their night on the town.

"Hurry up!" Fang called over to her from her seat already behind the steering wheel of Lightning's car.

"Yeah yeah. I don't see why I have to spend money getting drunk when I can just do it with the alcohol at my place." Lightning grumbled as Fang turned into the parking lot of a club called

_The Broken Jaw. _"This place sounds lovely." Lightning said sarcastically looking up at the large pink neon sign that had the illustration of a broken jawbone.

"Oh lighten up. Excuse the pun." Fang said laughing as the two of them entered the bar. Lightning was now wearing a light brown long sleeved turtleneck that was the exact replica of her

sleeveless one the only exception being it had sleeves. She also wore dark blue jeans, and still wore her pendant around her neck. Fang wore a dark blue long sleeved t-shirt, and dark blue

jeans borrowed from Lightning. She was a bit uncomfortable because the jeans were a bit tight on her from Lightning's smaller form, and that Lightning's legs were very well toned, and Fang's

although fit herself were not as fit as Lightning's legs or whole body for that matter, and the shirt was also a little tight because of Lightning's smaller size. The two best friends entered the

bar, and took a seat in booth off in the left hand corner. After what seemed like ten minutes of drinking Lightning was already slurring her words.

"You Farron's are all lightweights." Fang said downing the rest of her drink which was half the bottle.

"What?" Lightning asked as a man approached her.

"Hey beautiful how bout coming up to my room to have a little fun." The man said flashing her a toothless grin.

"Um..no." Lightning said with cloudy eyes. "Like I don't even know you why would I want to have sex with you?" Lightning asked goofily.

"Because I think your sexy." The man replied thinking he had charm.

"Get out of here man...I mean your ugly as-" Lightning was about to insult him more before Fang clamped her hand over the drunk woman's mouth.

"Please go. I don't want you taking advantage of my friend." Fang said forcing a smile making the man leave rejected.

"What did you do tht for?" Lightning asked as Fang removed her hand from the other girl's mouth. "I was going to tell that guy off." She finished.

"Yeah then we would get raped in the alleyway what fun that would be." Fang said rolling her eyes still sober although she felt a small buzz coming on.

"Pfffft I could kick his ass....and yours!" Lightning said turning and hitting some guy in the stomach who was just passing by.

"Sorry she's drunk." Fang apologized to the man as he limped past her. "I think you've had enough." Fang said taking Lightning's beer away.

"No!" She objected taking the bottle back, and cradling it in her arms like a baby.

"Lightning." Fang said sternly.

"Nu-uh I'm not stopping until your drunk too." Lightning slurred swaying uneasily in her seat.

"By then you'll have alcohol poisoning." Fang said taking another sip, while observing Lightning nuzzle the bottle with her nose before dropping it onto the floor.

"I don't think I should have children." Lightning said staring down at the mess she had created.

"I agree." Fang said shaking her head as her best friend ordered another beer.

"Soooooooo Fangolina what are we going to do next once your drunk?" Lightning asked her eyes drooping a little.

"I don't know take you home." Fang said finishing the bottle off.

"Hey do you know who you look like?" Lightning said tapping a man twice her size on the shoulder.

"No." The man said in a deep voice turning around.

"That guy who keeps raping all those kids." The younger girl said squinting at the man.

"Young lady I think you've had one to many." The man said placing a hand on her shoulder to keep her from falling over.

"Well I think you've had more than one too many cheeseburgers!" Lightning said turning to grin at Fang who shook her head in disbelief.

"Listen I think you should take your friend home." The man addressed Fang this time.

"Noooooo not until she's drunk too!" Lightning yelled waving a hand in the man's face.

"Suit yourself." He said turning back to his group of friends. " Man she's hot!" One of his friends said. "Yeah smoking hot!" Said another.

"I'm gonna try bed her." One said standing up, but was stopped by the big man.

"She's drunk Johan don't take advantage of her." He said making the guy sit down.

"Alright Gonzo you drunk yet?" Lightning asked leaning over the table staring at Fang while squinting her eyes.

"For crying out-" Fang was cut off by the sound of Lightning's beer bottle breaking once more.

"Dammit." Lightning said looking down. "Hey shop keep! clean up in isle...uh...this fucking table over here by that serial rapist guy! yeah the fat ass behind me!" Lightning yelled over the

music able to get every one's attention. Fang just shook her head for what seemed to be the hundredth time that evening. An hour later Lightning was finally able to get Fang drunk, and

now the two sat laughing about the most trivial things.

"Oh-oh." Fang said swaying on the spot as she stared through her car window.

"Whaaaaaat?" Lightning asked laughing as she saw a guy fall off his bike nearby.

"Look the keys are in there I locked them in their." The raven haired woman said resting against the car so she didn't fall over.

"Oh spank me hard they are!" Lightning yelled with her face pressed against the window to see inside. "Look their just sitting there peacefully, happily. Hello keys are you having a good

life?" Lightning asked still looking at them. "Lightning your drunk." Fang said draping an arm over the younger girl's shoulder.

"No no your drunk. I'm perfectly sober." The strawberry blond slurred looking up at Fang.

"What no your not sober I am." Fang said staring back. "Oh well let's walk home then." She finished as the two began to stagger down the street. Ten minutes later a Cocoon security car

pulled up beside the two woman wailing it's siren once to alert them to stop. "Excuse me young lady?" The soldier addressed Lightning who stopped and turned to face him.

"Huh?" Lightning hummed turning to face him.

"Have you been drinking tonight?" He asked the obvious question.

"Um...what do you think officer...baconator huh that's a weird name." Lightning said leaning in to read his nametag.

"Alright that's it you two are under arrest." The soldier sighed putting Lightning's hands behind her back and into handcuffs, doing the same to Fang shortly after.

"Hey I didn't do anything!" The fluffy haired woman objected as she was put into the car beside Lightning who looked like she was asleep. "Light wake up." She whispered.

"Huh?" The younger girl shot up at the sound of Fang's voice. "What's going on?" She asked looking around the car.

"Um you got us arrested." Fang chuckled thinking about what the strawberry haired girl had said to land them in the back seat of a police car.

"Huh oh yeah that was preeeeeeeetty funny huh Fango." Lightning said drawing the words out as they were being driven to the drunk tank for the night.

"Hey I want my phone call!" Lightning called out once she seen the phone.

"Alright young lady just keep your voice down." The officer said leading her over to the phone. Lightning dialed in her home phone number, and waited for someone to answer.

"Hello?" It was Serah who answered it.

"Serah! hey how's it going?" Lightning asked excited that her sister had answered the phone.

"Um..Lightning? it's four o'clock at night where are you?" Her little sister asked worried about her where abouts.

"Well me, and Fangy got drunk, and well we kinda got arrested." Lightning answered.

"Really?" She could hear Serah giggle back.

"Hey it's not funny! actually it kinda is." Lightning admitted looking over to Fang who was flirting with one of the officers.

"Why what did you do?" Serah asked curious to what her sister had said.

"Ha I said what do you think officer than I leaned in to look at his name tag then I called him baconator!" Lightning said laughing at the memory.

"Really haha! that's hilarious!" Serah said laughing loudly.

"Yeah I know so can you come, and bail us out?" Lightning asked twirling the phone cord in her hand.

"Sure I'll be there soon." Serah responded before hanging up. Shortly after Lightning, and Fang were led to the drunk tank where they sat for a few minutes.

"Lightning!?" A higher ranking officer said surprised to see her there.

* * *

"Who just called babe?" Snow asked walking down the stairs to see who had called a such an unacceptable hour.

"Oh it was Lightning." Serah responded looking over her shoulder to see him.

"Really? There not back yet?" Snow asked thinking the two women would be back by now.

"No they got arrested." Serah said smiling.

"Ha ha ha oh my God I can't believe it ha ha geez what did they do." Snow laughed hysterically.

"Lightning called the police guy officer baconator." Serah said her smile growing.

"Wow I didn't think Light had such good of humor." Snow said rubbing his chin as he remembered his sister-in-laws normally serious behaviour.

"Yeah I've gotten drunk with her a couple times when she has allowed me to do so. She is really funny when she is drunk though." Serah said grabbing her coat from a nearby chair where it

rested. "Where are you going?" Snow asked his fiance.

"Um... to bail them out obviously I'm not just going to leave them there." Serah said rolling her eyes.

"Ha I know I'm coming too." Snow said grabbing his coat, and throwing it on.

* * *

"Seargent major Amoda?" Lightning slurred looking up at the older man, her former superior.

"Yes that's me." The man, Amoda replied looking at his former Seargent that he had commanded.

"Heeeeeeeey!" Lightning slurred happily her eyes lighting up at seeing her former friend.

"So what are you doing here?" He asked looking over to Fang seeing that both of the young women were drunk.

"Well you know this, and that. But officer baconator wasn't exactly nice. Oh yes this is my bestest friend in the whole world Fang. Yes that is her real name." Lightning said gesturing with her

arms. "Oh haha I see so your the one who made that clever comment. But don't forget that you used to work here also." Amoda said. "Nice to meet you Fang."

"Oh hey!" The other drunk woman replied to his greeting with a small wave to which Amoda nodded in reply.

"Oh look who it is it's officer bacanator!" Lightning said as he walked up to the cell door followed by Snow, and Serah. "Hey Snow squall. Hey sis." She greeted the two.

Officer "Baconator" unlocked the door, and left the room followed by Amoda who said his fare wells to the two women as he exited the room.

"Well I never thought I'd see Lightning drunk!" Snow said laughing loudly at the sight of a drunk Lightning.

"I know eh!" Surprisingly it was Lightning who responded happily causing Snow to stare back at her a little surprised.

"Okay let's get you two out of here." Serah said walking over and helping Lightning to stand up while Snow did the same for Fang.

"Hey Light wait a sec!" I t was Amoda who called to the young woman before they exited the station.

"What is it Amody?" She asked swaying with Serah steadying her.

"Well can I have a word with you alone?" The seargent major asked his former seargent.

"Um...sure but you'll have to help me walk." Lightning responded staggering over to him where he put an arm around her shoulder, and helped her over to a nearby bench.

"So what do you want?" Lightning asked a little too loudly.

"Could you quiet down?" Amoda responded. Lightning's answer was a slow shake of her head indicating the word yes.

"Sure Amody!" His friend said happily.

"Okay well I know you've been going through a rough time lately, and I wanted you to know that if you ever needed anything just give me a call." Amoda said having to grab Lightning's chin

to make her face him. "Oh...a hard time? oh you mean being kidnapped, and all? Well my friend that was a one time thing!" She said pausing. "I mean two time thing." Lightning corrected.

"Really but I'm serious Light. I'm worried about you." He said looking the younger girl in the eyes.

"Well thank you but I'll be fine. But just to make you relax I'll give you a call when I feel lonely!" Lightning said with a wink, causing the seargent major to laugh loudly.

"I would very much appreciate it." He said helping her up, and leading her over to her sister.

"Let's go home Sariah." Lightning said oblivious to what she had called her little sister, who responded with a frown, and followed by a small laugh.

"Alright Lighty!" She responded as they got into the car.

"Arrrgh!" Lightning groaned upon waking up the following morning. She looked to her left to find Serah sleeping there making a smile appear on her lips.

"Hey Serah it's time to get up." Lightning said softly shaking her sister awake.

"Whyyyyyyyyyy?" Serah whined not wanting to get up.

"Um because if you don't I'll go hit Snow." Lightning replied in an attempt to wake the eighteen year old up.

"Go ahead." Serah said burying her head in the soft pillow.

"Fine then I guess I'll just have to tickle you." Lightning said as she began tickling her sister.

"Ah! haha! okay haha! I-I give up! I'm up!" Serah laughed sitting up to look at her older sister. "Hey shouldn't you have a hang over?" She questioned.

"Yeah I do but I took an aspirin this morning, and ate some bread last night." Lightning said with a shrug.

"Hmm well let's go." Serah said jumping out of the large bed, and scampering over to the door. Lightning sighed, and followed her out.

"Okay I'll be back." Lightning told Fang as she left to make a phone call. She was now dressed in her regular battle clothes with her gun blade holstered just under her bottom.

"Hello?" Amoda answered after a few seconds of the phone ringing.

"Um...Seargent major?" Lightning asked unsure of what to say.

"Lightning!" The man exclaimed happily upon recognizing the young woman's voice.

"Um..hello." She replied a bit tiredly.

"So how are you?" Amoda asked trying to start some small talk, much like he used to when they were colleagues

"Um fine but listen-"

"You don't have a hangover? That's simply amazing since you probably drank your weight in alcohal." Amoda cut her off.

"Yeah I'm fine. Can you do me a favour?" Lightning asked putting on her sweet voice.

"Yeah sure what is it?" Amoda asked in his warm, and hearty voice.

"Can you sneak me, and a friend to Pulse?" Lightning asked a bit nervously. The truth being she only asked him this because she had her complete confidence, and trust in him.

"Uh...yeah sure no problem." Amoda said reassuringly.

"Your not going to ask why?" Lightning asked a bit surprised to the seargent major's lack of curiosity that he always had.

"No. I'm better off not knowing." He replied with a hearty laugh.

"Hmm." Was Lightning's response.

"Anyways I'll be over in a few to pick you, and your fiend up." Amoda said followed by another chuckle.

"Alright thanks." Lightning said before hanging up the phone. About ten minutes later Amoda showed up at the doorstep of the Farron home.

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

"Alright he's here." Lightning spoke standing up. "Serah you stay here, Snow you look after her, and you two Hope. Let's go Fang." She finished heading for the door.

"Alrighty Lighty!" Hope replied watching her retreating back.

"Oh yeah, and Hope." Lightning said over her shoulder.

"Yeah?" The boy asked a little to eager.

"Stay out of my room." Lightning finished smiling as she saw Hope's face fall.

"Hello!" Amoda greeted upon letting himself in.

"Uh...hi nice of you to wait." Lightning replied sarcastically.

"Nice to see you not hung over!" Amoda retorted with another laugh.

"Ha ha this is my friend Fang. You may remember her also being drunk." Lightning introduced her friend.

"Ah so this is your bestest friend in the whole world huh?" Amoda replied remembering Lightning's words the previous night.

"Uh huh." Lightning said nodding her head.

"Alright then let's get going." Fang said. And with that they left the house, and drove to the military hangar. The drive there consisted of Amoda reminiscing about the times he, and Lightning

had working in the security force together that Lightning replied to with half hearted answers such as 'huh' or 'yeah I remember'

"Here we are!" Amoda exclaimed an hour later once they arrived at the hangar.

"Okay let's hurry, and get out of here." Lightning replied glancing at every person half expecting to see Jihl among the crowd of people that swarmed the lot.

Amoda let the women to an airship that looked as though it had just finished being waxed.

"Were going in that?" Fang asked a little surprised at how nice of an airship it actually was.

"Uh huh." Amoda replied pushing the women inside the no doubt expensive thing. A few minutes later the three were settled into the cabin of the ship with Amoda at the controls, and Fang,

and Lightning lounging on the couch behind the steering compartment. About an hour into they're flight Lightning began to feel a little bit sleepy, and eventually fell asleep leaning against

Fang. The strawberry blond awoke to find herself back in the nightmare she had been able to elude for a while now, and noticed that the forest was even more destroyed than it ever was.

"Welcome back." The voice of the Fal'cie greeted the young woman as she walked before the great beast, and got on her knees so she wouldn't anger it. The ground was very warm on her

bare legs causing her to wince a little at first but after a few seconds she finally relaxed, and looked up at the creature. Lightning opened her mouth to speak but then quickly closed it

because she hadn't been given permission to do so and feared the pain that would follow the action. "I'm a bit hurt. Do you not like my home?" The Fal'cie asked.

Lightning continued to stay silent until she was given permission to speak. "Well to be quite blunt it isin't my idea of welcoming." She said instantly wincing once the words rolled off her

tongue. Much to her relief the monster's response wa a loud chuckled that continued into hysteric laughter. "Hmmn your feisty I like you." It spoke once calming down.

"Hmmn I'm flattered." Lightning replied rolling her eyes.

"You should be." Was the beast's quick response showing that it was clearly insulted at the lack of praise it was receiving.

"Right. Then what do you want?" Lightning asked looking up into the _thing's _eight eyes.

"Have you forgotten?" It asked back which Lightning replied to with a shake of her head indicating that she had indeed forgotten.

"Sorry but yeah. A lot has happened since I last _visited _you." Lightning replied feeling a shiver go up her spine every time she spoke to the thing.

"Ha ha silly girl do try to remember this time." It said with a chuckle. "You are to find the crystal that I require _my _dear." It spoke emphasising the dear.

_It's surprisingly calm today. What's up with that? _Lightning wondered nervously glancing away finding it hard to hold it's gaze. "Y-yes m-master." Lightning replied ducking her head humiliated

at the fact of having to call the thing master. "Good girl." Came it's smug reply, and somehow it got a cocky look on it's face although it was a giant spider.

Despite the fact that no threats had been made Lightning couldn't help to shake as her arachnophobia kicked in.

"Now time for you to go to sleep." It said, and a second later Lightning was fast asleep.

"So what's wrong with her?" Amoda asked over his shoulder as he watched Lightning shake violently in her sleep.

"Um I really tell you but I think she's been having nightmares about spiders lately." Fang replied hugging the sleeping woman to herself.

"Light's arachnophobic?" He asked turning back to watch the sky before him.

"Yeah surprisingly." Fang replied resting her head against the seat next to her.

* * *

Where do you think your going?" Serah asked as Cid stood by the front door with his hand on the handle.

"Is there a problem with me leaving?" He asked turning to face her.

"Actually there is. Lightning told me to make sure you don't do anything stupid." She said stepping towards him.

"Well I'm sorry to say but I don't care what your doing. But I'm leaving." Cid said opening the door, and leaving the young girl behind.

* * *

"So where exactly am I supposed to take you two?" Amoda asked after what seemed like a couple hours of flying the nice airship.

"Um...anywhere I guess let's land here." Fang said as Amoda then proceeded to land the ship cleanly onto one of the open paths.

"Hey Light get up." The man said walking over to, and shaking the young woman.

"Hey hey hey what do you want?" Lightning said groggily looking up at him.

"Were here sleepy head." Amoda replied with a chuckle causing Lightning to roll her eyes at the fact that the man was pretty much always laughing.

"Okay thanks for the lift." Lightning said once the three were standing outside of the airship.

"No problem just give me a call when you need to be picked up." He replied before giving his farewells to the two women, and leaving them there on Pulse.

"Alright Light which direction do we start?" Fang asked looking at the strawberry blond.

"Um I'm kind of feeling something in this direction." Lightning nodded her head to the path they were facing.

"Alright then good enough for me." The tan woman replied starting off in the direction in a what looked like a happy skip.

"I think she's been spending a little too much time with Vanille lately." Lightning muttered before starting after her.

* * *

"Rygdea my man how is everything?" Cid asked slapping a hand on the man's back.

"All is good Cid. But where exactly are you heading?" The other man asked staring at the airship Cid had asked him to prepare.

"Uh...Pulse why?" The dark haired man replied opening the door to the ship.

"Well it's not everyday you ask me to prepare the Lindblum." Rygdea replied following him inside.

"Well it is a special occasion." Cid said with a grin as he fired up the engine.

"Don't tell me it has to do with Lightning." Rydea said smacking a hand to his face.

"Uh..yeah of course it does." Cid replied turning to face the brown haired man over his shoulder.

"Dude you know she hates you." Rygdea said astonished that his friend must not of picked up on the signals the woman was sending him all of that morning.

"Huh nothing we can't work through." Was Cid's optimistic answer.

"Yeah to you. But she's stubborn." Rygdea said sitting into the co-pilot's seat. "What did you do to her anyway?" He continued looking for an answer.

"What do you mean?" Cid asked wondering if Rygdea had indeed found out what he had tried, and was just trying to get him to admit it.

* * *

"Yaag will you hurry up already!" Jihl snapped at the silver haired man who was lingering behind her.

"No because I'm not going." Yaag replied looking at the woman who scared him with her cruelness, and obsession of Lightning.

"Why not?" She asked questioning his motives. "Next thing I know you'll be leaving the Sanctum just like she did." Jihl finished.

"Listen Jihl...I don't plan on leaving...but I still can't go on this mission with you. I can't hurt her." Yaag said to the cold woman.

"Can't hurt her? you mean Lightning?" Jihl asked.

"Yes...no matter how hard it is for you to believe she's still my friend, and I won't hurt her." Yaag said throwing the bag of supplies he was holding to the ground.

"Very well I won't hold it against you but I'm still going." Jihl firmly said.

"Alright. But do you know if she's even there?" Yaag asked wondering if Jihl would be heading into the wrong hell.

"Have you ever wanted something so bad that you could just feel it, and sense where it is at all times?" Jihl asked staring coldly at Yaag.

"No not that I know of." Was his reply.

"Well I do. I can feel Lightning day, and night no matter where I am, or where she is." Jihl said watching Yaag's features twist into a frown.

"Sometimes I swear your going crazy." Yaag muttered walking away leaving Jihl behind to do the rest of the preparation.

* * *

"What the fu-" Lightning tried to finish her sentence but couldn't. Herself, and Fang had been walking for what seemed like a lifetime, when they came upon a enormous crater the size

of an adamantoise in the ground. "What is it?" Fang asked as she saw Lightning's reaction. "I mean it's just a crater big woop." The woman said as she started to descend into it.

"It's nothing. I just get the feeling that I've been here before." Lightning spoke up as she followed her in.

"Well have you been here?" Fang asked looking over her shoulder.

"Well I'm not sure yet but I think so." Lightning said gazing around her surroundings. "Oh screw it just summon Bahamut already." She snapped frustrated as she lost her footing a little.

"Oh come on I don't want to waste any of my tp." Fang complained turning to face her friend.

"Tp?" Lightning questioned what the hell that was. "Toilet paper? Why in the world would you have to use toilet paper to summon Bahamut?"

"Oh never mind. I just don't want to waste his energy." The dragoon said as she continued downward followed by her strawberry blond companion. A while later the two finally made it to

the bottom of the crater. "It's the remnants of a village." Fang said kicking a nearby rock.

"Not just any village. This was the village me, Cid, and Yaag were sent to gather information on the pending terrorist attack." Lightning said kneeling down beside what looked like a large

footprint. "What the hell made that?" Fang asked walking over to the ex-seargent.

"We had to fight a giant dragon while we were here. It must have left this." Lightning said gazing around at what seemed to be hundreds of them.

The village Lightning had once known was all but destroyed but by some kind of miracle that no one wished for there were still crumbling building's circling the base of the crater.

With a clear area in the middle of the destroyed village that kind of resembled some sort of arena with the building's serving as makeshift seating arrangement that made the crater look

more like a coliseum. "My my what the hell did you guys do to this place?" Lightning, and Fang both spun around at the sound of the voice. Standing there from the far end of the crater was

none other than Jihl. "What do you want now?" Fang asked rolling her eyes at their persistent enemy.

"You know what I want. Lightning of course." Was all Jihl said as she slowly began walking towards the women.

"Uhhhh too bad your not getting it." Fang said as she drew her spear from her back as Lightning did the same drawing her Blaze Edge, and turning it into sword mode.

"Hmmmph I shoulda known you two kids weren't going to give in without a fight." Jihl said drawing her cobalt sword.

"Riiiiight, and I should have known that you were going to show up." Lightning snapped back rolling her eyes, before lunging at Jihl once she was in range.

Jihl met Lightning's blow with her own which caused the younger girl to recoil a little but Lightning quickly recovered, and continued to attack Jihl with brutal strikes of her blade.

Fang quickly came up behind Lightning, and began to swing her spear as if she were about to strike her friend. Lightning then did a quick front flip over Jihl with the momentum she had

acquired from her offensive position. Jihl confused by this move was easily struck across the stomach causing her to cry out a little as Lightning gracefully landed behind her, and followed it

up with a strike across Jihl's back receiving another yelp of pain. However it wasn't enough to bring the Lieutenant Colonel down as she performed a spin attack that forced both Lightning,

and Fang to jump out of harms reach. Lightning, and Fang both began to rush Jihl at opposite sides, Jihl smirked at this, and stabbed her sword into the ground. As soon as Lightning, and

Fang were close enough fire burst from the ground with a direct hit on the women. Lightning, and Fang flew in opposite directions landing with a loud thud. With some effort Lightning was

able to pull herself to her feet only to fall to her knees. With no other thought in her mind Lightning switched her Blaze Edge into gun mode, and began to continuously fire at her enemy.

Jihl easily dodged the bullets with quick rolls, and jumping. _How the hell can she do that in heels? _Lightning thought as she abandoned the idea of using her gun, and switched it back into

a sword as she quickly rushed her opponent. Fang had also climbed to her feet recovering from the blast, and was able to run at Jihl. Again Jihl pulled another trick from her sleeve as she

waited until Lightning, and Fang were side by side before casting a blizzara spell that injured her two opponents.

"Ah! how the hell can she do that? She's not a l'cie!" Lightning cried out in pain as the burning sensation attacked her like touching dry ice.

"Oh come on now Lightning you should know better. At the Sanctum we have the best technology around." Jihl smirked as she approached the grounded women.

"The Sanctum's developed a way to cast spells?" Fang asked looking up at the woman.

"Well not exactly it's still in the prototype stage. But soon enough as soon as all the problems are worked out. The injection will be mass produced." Jihl smirked as she ran a hand through

her long blond hair, and pushed her glasses up. "It's not fair with it being two on one, and all. Don't you agree Lightning?" Jihl asked turning to the younger girl.

"Wha-" Without looking Jihl formed a thundara spell in her hand, and hurled it towards Fang answering Lightning's unasked question.

"Ooops I should of saved that one for you. You know thunder, and Lightning, and all." Jihl laughed looking at the now unconscious Fang.

While Jihl was occupied with her laughter Lightning jumped up to her feet, and rushed at Jihl performing a complicated move of several powerful attacks. This was Lightning's signature Scene

Drive that knocked Jihl to the corroded ground. "...Oh so you decided to finally show up huh that was nice but not enough." Jihl smirked climbing back to her feet.

"Come now my kitten just give in, and I won't hurt you." Jihl said staring down at the woman gasping for air.

"...Damn you." Lightning panted exhausted from the attack she had just performed with her hands resting on her knees with her back hunched over.

"Hmmm still feisty as ever." Jihl smiled still staring lustfully. "Although that attack still wears you out huh."

"Shut up!" Lightning snarled breathlessly as she charged for what she thought to be the final blow. Jihl readied herself, and charged towards Lightning when the two met Jihl quickly jumped

to the side, and grabbed Lightning by her neck, and brought her to herself. "Now now there's no need to fight just calm down." Jihl spoke as Lightning breathed heavily her head pressed

against Jihl's shoulder. "No!" Lightning yelled as she pushed off Jihl, and turned to face her. As soon as she did this Jihl stabbed her blade into Lightning's stomach causing her to falter a

little. Lightning breathed even more heavy, and coughed up a little blood onto Jihl's outfit, she then gathered enough strength, and brought her own sword with lightning speed into Jihl's

own stomach mimicking what had been done to her moments before. Both women stood there gasping for air, Lightning resting her head on Jihl's shoulder coughing up blood in massive

amounts, and Jihl resting her head on Lightning's. After a few moments Lightning fell to her knees shortly followed by Jihl doing the same. Not long after both women fell, and lay on the

ground, and passed out unconscious.

**And touche to the reviewer SPG. Truth is I forgot about Sazh while writing that part so I added an explaination in this chapter. And I added Hope just for you Johan07!**


	13. Chapter 12: The Prophecy

Sisterly Love Chapter 12: The Prophecy

Lightning's eyes fluttered open as she groggily sat up only to cringe at the extreme pain in her stomach. The young woman remembered the events before she lost consciousness, and

started to check out her surroundings. She looked around to see Fang, and Jihl were conscious but hadn't noticed she had awaken.

"Ah!" Lightning cried out as her stomach flared up again, Fang immediatly looked over to her friend with worry in her eyes.

"You alright Lightning?" She asked worried about her condition.

"Argh yeah I-I'm fine." Lightning managed to get out. "Where the hell are we anyway?"

"As if we know dear." Jihl responded causing Lightning to shiver. In response Lightning just glared at her.

"Oh come on Lightning do you always have to be so mean?" Jihl asked raising an eyebrow.

"Tch. How's that wound treating you?" Lightning asked hinting at her stomach.

"Oh I'm quite impressed I underestimated you. That Scene Drive packed quite a punch." Jihl said confidently.

"Shut up Jihl!" Lightning snapped before turning to Fang. "Can you heal my stomach?"

"No can do Light. There's some sort of magic barrier so it's futile." Fang informed. Lightning just sighed, and lyed back onto the floor wincing as her injury flared up once more.

"This is one crappy cell." The strawberry blond said putting her left arm over her eyes as if to go back to sleep. The cell they were being held in had a no furniture in it what so ever so the

women were forced to sit or lay on the floor. The walls were dirty as was the floor itself, and they were kept inside by a sturdy set of metal bars.

"This sucks." Lightning muttered after about ten minutes of silence.

"Oh quit pouting Lightning." Jihl reprimanded the younger girl.

"Shut up Jihl your lucky I don't just kill you right now!" Lightning snapped back at the older woman.

"With what? you don't have a weapon." Jihl smirked. Lightning-upon looking to see if her gun blade was missing-sighed and lyed back into her previous position.

"Who the hell is keeping us here anyway?" Lightning asked frustrated.

"Maybe it's that group of terrorists who use to inhabit this village before it's unfortunate demise." Jihl said looking around the dark cell.

"As if they could survive." Lightning spat at her rival.

"Very well than if you want to be that stubborn then so be it." Jihl spoke smugly watching Lightning's hand form a fist.

"Okay you two let's not fight in a small place like this." Fang's accented voice drifted into the conversation.

"...Fine." Lightning sighed after a few moments, and soon after she drifted off to sleep.

"Is she sleeping?" Jihl asked after seeing the young woman's silence for a while now.

"Uh-huh." Was Fang's response as the two sat in silence, with the youngest of the three-Lightning-sleeping off in the corner.

* * *

"Come on Cid your crazy." Rygdea complained as Cid continued to drive the airship towards an unknown location on Pulse.

"Why? because I believe that Lightning can see things my way?" Cid asked annoyed at what was about Rygdea's fourth objection in the span of five minutes.

"Yeah! sure I haven't known Lightning for long at all. But the minute I met her I knew she was stubborn." The brown haired man argued.

"Correction. The first time you met her she couldn't say anything at all." Cid said holding up a finger as if to contradict Rygdea's claim of Lightning's stubbornness.

"Yeah only because you insisted on putting that ball in her mouth." Rygdea said waving his hands in the air.

"Yeah but if Jihl-"

"Like it matters if Jihl showed up! You outrank her anyway!" The co-pilot continued to argue.

"Yeah but I knew if Lightning could talk she would be screaming at me." Cid said in what he presumed was his defense.

"Yeah whatever I know it's only because she looks good with it silencing her." Rygdea said looking out the window.

"You noticed too huh?" Cid said looking over at the man beside him.

"Yeah... but damn she's got a damn fine body don't she." Rygdea said gazing across the landscape.

"Hell yeah man! damn her legs are so sexy, and...she's just so foxy!" Cid yelled unable to express what he thought without doing so.

"Yeah...meow."

"Okay were here." Cid said parking the Lindblum on a wide enough path. The two exited the air ship, and started heading in a direction.

"So where exactly is 'here' anyway? and how do you know where were going is the right direction?" Rygdea asked frowning.

"Don't worry about it." Cid said continuing to walk forward. "Whoa!" He exclaimed second later as a few flans jumped out at the two men.

"Ah I thought you said there wasn't going to be any fighting." Rygdea complained drawing what looked like a heavy mace, and a machine gun from his pocket.

"You can't be serious Ryg! this is Pulse for crying out loud!" Cid yelled pulling out his own Blaze Edge.

The flans were the ones to make the first move by rushing forward, and swiping at Cid who jumped back while switching his Blaze Edge into gun mode, and firing several bullets into the

creature. Rygdea rushed the flan that made a lunge towards Cid, and clubbed it several times with his mace. The other flan rushed, and made contact on Rygdea sending him back a few

feet. Cid switched his gun into sword mode, and slashed one of the flans arms off earning him a screech of pain from the creature as it swung it's other one at him which Cid blocked.

Rygdea recovered, and charged towards the flan pressuring Cid. After a couple of clubs from his mace the flan fell to the ground, that only left the other one to deal with.

All it took to bring down the final flan was a couple of slashes of Cid's sword, and it fell without a fight.

"Alright then. Where were we?" Cid asked.

* * *

"Alright Snow, and Hope quit arguing!" Serah said crossing her arms, glaring at the two who were currently in a heated debate about whether or not if it would rain outside.

"No I'm telling you that it's going to rain!" Hope said stubbornly.

"As if there's not a cloud in the sky!" Snow argued back giving the boy a shove.

"You two shut up!" Serah yelled stamping her foot on the ground. "We all know the weather is controlled by the Fal'cie!"

"....Oh I forgot about that." Snow said rubbing his chin.

"Me too." Hope muttered.

* * *

"Feeding time." Lightning was awoken with a kick to the side causing her to cough for a while.

"What the hell was that for!" She snapped at the man. "And who are you? what do you want with us?"

"I'm a l'cie, and I want you people to pay Sanctum scum." The man spat.

"Wait! were l'cie too!" Lightning shouted sitting up to get a better look at the man. But it seemed as though he didn't even care, he just kept walking.

"Ahhhhhhh!" The l'cie let out a scream as soon as he exited the cell. Seconds later none other than Cid Raines stepped into view.

"Hey Lightning." He greeted with a smirk.

"What are you doing here Cid?" Lightning asked laying back down as Cid unlocked the cell door, and stepped inside.

"What do you think? I'm here to save you." He spoke confidently.

"Oh please I'd rather rot than have you rescue me." Lightning spat rolling to face the other way.

"Well I'm grateful." Fang said standing up. But before she left she picked up Lightning, and threw her over her shoulder.

"Hey p-put me down Fang that's not funny!" Lightning yelled as Fang carried her out of their prison. However before Jihl could leave Cid shut the door, and locked her in.

"Sorry Jihl but..you know I don't want you hurting Lightning anymore." Cid said protectively pulling Lightning close to him in a hug, which Lightning responded to with fighting her way free

of his grasp. "I can take care of myself Cid." Lightning growled at him.

"Don't worry Cid. It won't be long before I'm out of here." Jihl spoke confidently.

"Well be seeing you then." Fang said over her shoulder as the three left the building.

"Damn where are we?" Lightning asked as the sun's bright rays descended upon the group as they left the entrance of the run down building.

"The same village just in one of the few buildings still standing." Cid informed "And it just so happens to be a prison."

"Of course." Fang said gazing around.

"Cid don't touch me." Lightning said coldly shaking his hand off her shoulder.

"Come on Light just listen to me." He pleaded but Lightning kept walking away from him.

"Hey come on Light I'm sorry." He tried to convince her by following the younger girl like a dog.

"Give it up Cid what you did was unforgivable." Fang chuckled at her brother's attempt to get the strawberry blond to forgive him.

"Arrgh where are you going Lightning?" Cid asked in frustration.

"None of your business! just take Rygdea, and go home." Lightning called back to him as she saw Rygdea walking towards them.

"Come on...fine." Cid sighed motioning for Rygdea to follow. When they were out of view Lightning turned to Fang.

"God he is so annoying."

"Tell me about it." The raven haired woman responded "Now let's get going."

"Yeah...let's go." Her friend responded. After a few hours of searching the two women stumbled across what looked like a hidden tunnel that had been revealed from the big explosion years

before. Lightning, and Fang slowly made their way into the tunnel cautious of whether the tunnel would collapse or not.

"...Crap I hate tight spaces." Lightning whimpered gazing up at the low roof of the tunnel.

"What your claustrophobic too?" Fang asked surprised at the young woman's different phobias.

"Yeah I get very uncomfortable." Lightning replied turning to face her.

"Next thing I know your scared of heights." Fang said chuckling lightly.

"Well...I'm not a big fan." Lightning smiled sheepishly.

"Really." Fang said surprised as they reached the end of the tunnel.

"I can't see a thing Fang cast a fire spell so I can see a little." Lightning spoke carefully inspecting the wall.

"What is it?" Fang asked after casting the fire spell, and lighting up the end of the tunnel. Her companion didn't respond, instead continuing to inspect the wall.

"...There murals." She responded looking over her shoulder to look at Fang.

"Really? what of?"

Lightning didn't answer instead choosing to continue looking over the old pictures. "Something disturbing." she finally answered.

"Let me see." Fang said gently pushing her friend out of the way. After a couple minutes of staring at them she finally saw what they were.

"What the hell Lightning! is that you?" She asked taken aback by the tiny inscriptions on the wall.

"Uh...yeah, and look." She said pointing to one of the pictures.

"Hey it's that crystal your supposed to find." Fang said looking at Lightning.

"Yeah, and that one right there-the picture of the spider-that's the Fal'cie." Lightning replied pointing to said pictures.

"All right then let's get down to business." Fang said rubbing her hands together.

"Okay." Lightning said as she started to look around the area at the back of the tunnel for what would be some sort of secret switch. After a little bit of searching Fang stumbled upon an odd

inscription in the wall that did not go with the other ones. Touching it lightly with her fingers the back wall started to shake causing dust, and dirt to fall from the ceiling, as the ancient wall

slowly moved backwards. "Now were getting somewhere." She said as the two started down the dark path.

"So where do you think this leads?" Fang asked her now silent companion, when she received no answer she became worried. "Lightning whats wrong?"

"Hmm?...oh nothing." The strawberry blond lied looking forward.

"So where do you think this leads?"

"Um..hopefully to the crystal." Lightning replied looking around the ancient path. "How long do you think this has been here?"

"A while that's for sure. But I want to know what's up with that mural with a picture of you in it now that's just weird." Fang said shivering slightly.

"Yeah tell me about it." Fang could tell by Lightning's voice that she had something on her mind.

"Okay Lightning enough lying already tell me what's wrong."

* * *

"How old is she?" Sazh's wife Monique asked sternly.

"Um...twenty-one" Sazh replied uneasily looking around the room that him, and his wife shared well used to share.

"And her name?"

"Um...Lightning Farron" Sazh answered cringing that Monique would no doubt be angry with him.

"Oh that one beautiful young woman you used to work with?" She asked in response.

"...Yeah"

"Ha ha ha that's just like you Sazh! the second I file for a divorce you go, and start hitting on a beautiful young woman like her. I know you've had your eye on her for a while now."

"Well..um..yeah." Sazh admitted hanging his head in shame.

"I hope Dajh likes her." Monique said angrily.

"Well he does but come on baby!" Sazh said trying to calm Monique down.

"Well I hope you have fun with her."

* * *

"What did I tell you man?" Rygdea said shaking his head at his friend's stupidity.

"Yeah I know I know!" Cid replied waving his hands around.

"I told you that she was stubborn, and wouldn't listen to you." He said as if Cid didn't know what he had said.

"Rygdea?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

* * *

"Um..what's bothering me?" Lightning asked to verify Fang's question.

"Yeah what do you think I said?" Fang shot back annoyed by Lightning's deflecting.

"Um...nothing." The younger girl replied

"Okay so wha-" Fang was cut off as the ground started to shake around them throwing the two women to the ground.

"What the hell is that!?" Lightning yelled climbing to her feet all the while staring ahead at a shadow that kept getting bigger, and bigger.

"This can't be good." Fang muttered drawing her spear as Lightning did the same with her gunblade.

As the shadow was dangerously close Fang quickly casted a fire spell onto the unlit torches on the side of the path to illuminate the tunnel revealing their predator that turned out to be a

Behemoth. Once in range the great beast took a wild swing at Fang that the tan woman dodged by jumping back out of it's reach, as it failed the Behemoth quickly drew a giant sword that

was on it's back, and started swinging like crazy at the l'cie. As it was becoming increasingly more difficult for Fang to dodge the attacks Lightning slashed at the Behemoth with her gunblade.

In response the beast swung with it's free hand making Lightning jump back which she followed up with a thundara spell that knocked it off balance, upon seeing this Fang jumped over the

monster landing behind it, and digging her spear into the Behemoth's right knee. Lightning then jumped up so she was at eye level with the beast, and started slashing at him causing him

to yell out in pain. Once it regained it's composure it quickly swiped at Lightning with it's hand, and knocked her to the ground dazing her. Fang then took her spear out of the Behemoth's

knee, and jumped onto it's back slashing, and stabbing her spear into any opening she saw. Fang looked over to see Lightning struggling to get to her knees from the blow she had taken.

By losing her concentration Fang allowed the Behemoth to know her from it's back, and start slashing at her with it's jagged sword. Fang was barely able to block these attacks with her

spear each blow sending her back a few feet. Lightning finally was able to climb to her feet, and seeing Fang's danger she quickly ran over to the beast, and took her turn jumping onto it's

back making it scream out of frustration. Lightning covered her ringing ears with her hands so she wouldn't go deaf waiting the beast's screaming out when it was finished she switched

Blaze Edge into gun mode, and started shooting it's head in with several bullets. With the help of Lightning's diversion Fang was able to recover, and get out of harms way however

Lightning was not so lucky as the Behemoth slammed it's back into the wall crushing the young woman. As soon as it stepped away from the wall Lightning's limp body fell to the ground

with a light thud. "Lightning!" Fang called out as she ran over to her friend to see if she was alright upon arriving she saw that the strawberry blond was temporarily knocked out but still

breathing. Fang turned back to her opponent, and casted a fira spell making it scream loudly, Fang followed this up by casting a blind spell temporarily blinding the beast. With it's vision

taken out of the equation the raven haired woman ran towards the giant, and jumped up plunging her spear into it's sword hand. Blood ran from the wound, and washed over the woman

causing Fang to gag as the blood washed over her body. She began twisting her spear, and pushing it deeper into it's hand but however hard or deep she pushed it would not release it's

sword. The Bememoth finally regained it's vision, and knocked Fang from her grip of her spear, and to the ground. "Shit!" The Oerba muttered upon being disarmed, and without a weapon.

She looked over to see Lightning stirring from her 'sleep' Fang ran over to her friend, and shook her awake. "Come on Lightning wake up!" Fang said desperately continuing to shake her.

Finally Lightning's eyes fluttered open as she sat up to see the Behemoth walking towards them cornering them against the wall with no chance what so ever of escape.

"Where's your gunblade?" Fang asked looking over to see Lightning frantically looking around for her prize possession.

"Dunno." She responded groggily finally spotting it behind the carnivore that was their enemy. "Shit!" She swore but then her eyes widened as she remembered something. Lightning quickly

searched her pockets, and pulled out her Odin gem, and survival knife that Serah got her. She threw the gem up in the air, and jumped up drawing the knife, and swiftly cutting the gem in

half summoning Odin her eidolon. In a flash of brilliant pink Odin appeared breaking his sword in half, and handing one to Lightning that she threw over to Fang, and took the other well

jumping up onto Odin who had just transformed into his gestalt mode. Lightning, and Fang both rushed at the Behemoth slashing at him with their weapons making take several steps back

in a attempt to escape the pain that was being brought upon itself. Fang took the opportunity as the Behemoth focused on Lightning, and Odin to run up, and retrieve her spear. Once she

had it back in her hands she threw Odin's sword back over to Lightning who then jumped up into the air performing zantetsuken on the beast instantly killing it from the shear power of the

attack. With a cry the great beast fell to the ground, and ceased to move. Lightning walked over to it, and gave it a kick while poking it with Odin's sword making sure that it was dead,

finally convinced the thing was dead she dismissed Odin as he disappeared, and formed back into the pink gem that she put in the bag on her left leg.

"Well that was fun." Lightning said sarcastically as she retrieved her Blaze Edge, and put it back in the holster as she took a seat on the ground leaning against the wall.

"Yeah we should do it again sometime." Fang replied rolling her eyes while walking over to her friend.

"I'm exhausted. I'm going to sleep." Lightning said closing her eyes, and resting her head against the wall with a sigh she fell asleep.

"I think I'll join you." Fang said looking down at her before doing the same.

* * *

"So what's your next plan for getting Lightning back? I mean the whole night in shining armor didn't do a thing." Rygdea asked as the two flew around Pulse in the Lindblum.

"Um not sure yet. But do not worry my friend soon I will have her begging me to be her man." Cid responded with gusto.

"Really? she doesn't seem to be the begging type." Rygdea replied shaking his head.

"Yeah she isin't but that proves how bad she will want me." Cid's optimistic view didn't falter one bit.

"Won't that be the day." The brown haired man muttered looking out the window. "So what now?"

* * *

"So let me get this straight Serah. You want to go to Pulse to find Lightning, and help her?" Snow asked his fiancee.

"Uh-huh." Was the small girl's response.

"Your crazy plus Lightning would kill me. Come to think of it Fang would too." Snow said playing with his beanie.

"Well to bad I'm going." Serah said turning on her heel to leave the room.

"No your not!" Snow said loudly grabbing her hand.

"Yes I am!"

"No your not!"

* * *

_DING DONG!_

Sazh groaned as he got out of his chair to go answer the door, as he walked past Monique who gave him a hateful glare the doorbell continued to ring constantly further annoying him.

Sazh opened the door to find Vanille standing there with a smile on her face. "Vanille what are you doing here?" He asked frowning at the girl.

"Ummmmm I'm here to see what your up to you old geezer!" She laughed flipping her pig tail back.

".........Why?"

"Dunno I'm bored." Vanille replied tilting her head to the side peering into Sazh's house. "I like your house Sazh it's nice." She complimented.

"Yeah but it won't be mine for much longer." Sazh muttered looking back into the hallway that was behind him.

"Why's that?" Vanille asked happily rocking back, and forth on her feet.

"Oh me, and my wife are getting a divorce." Sazh replied putting a hand over his face.

"Oh I'm sorry........how come?" Vanille asked putting a hand on Sazh's arm.

"She thinks I'm cheating on her with Lightning." Sazh answered rubbing his temple.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh..................well.................are you?" Vanille asked feeling rather nosy today.

"Uh.. what do you think Vanille? of course not...but I wouldn't mind getting a piece of that ass." Sazh said conjuring up an image of Lightning's behind.

"Sazh she's way to young for you." Vanille said crossing her arms.

"Yeah well I like her." Sazh replied with a shrug.

* * *

Hours later both Fang, and Lightning awoke to the dim cavern that they decided to sleep in. Standing up Lightning stretched her arms while yawning sleepily.

"Alright let's do what we have to then get out of here." She said still yawning as Fang stood up.

"Yeah let's get going." She replied. The two women walked down the tunnel for what seemed like forever until they came across a strange other worldly blue light illuminating the end of the

tunnel. "What in the world is that?" Fang asked squinting to try, and get a better look down the tunnel.

"I don't know but maybe it's the crystal." Lightning replied grinning as she started to jog down the tunnel to get there faster unable to wait any longer.

"Hey wait!" Fang called after her as she also took off down the tunnel. Once she arrived to where Lightning was waiting her eyes widened.

"What the hell is that?" Fang asked staring entranced by the object.

"It's obviously the crystal dud." Lightning said as she took a few steps towards said object. As soon as Lightning's hand came into contact with the precious rock it lit slowly began to illuminate

the room revealing that the crystal was solidly embedded into something.

"What....the....fuck...is...that?" Lightning slowly asked looking up at the tall thing that towered over her.

"Oh shit...it's a 'Cie corpse." Fang breathed slowly drawing her spear, as Lightning continued to back away from the monster. Once she arrived at Fang's side Lightning pulled her Blaze Edge

from it's sheath. As soon as the whole room was lit up by the blue light the crystal emitted the 'Cie corpse's head shot, and it hissed sending a shiver down the two women's back.

In a flash the corpse dashed towards the two, and swiftly knocked them to the ground before retreating back a few feet, and casting a blizzaga spell that connected further weakening the

women. "Damn the thing slithers on the ground." Lightning breathed gasping for air from the two attacks. Before Fang could answer the monster rushed again but this time Lightning front

flipped over the creature, and followed it up with a slash across the corpse's back making it shriek loudly. Fang then sprinted up to the thing, and jumped up into the air, and came down

on the beast with a jump attack that sent the 'Cie corpse to the ground. Lightning then casted a firaga attack that connected, and spawned the smell of burning flesh causing the two

women to gag profusely as the failed l'cie recovered, and jumped towards Fang swiping at her with it's arm several times that Fang had no trouble blocking, and parried with her own attack

connecting with the things face. But it did not faze it as the beast just kept coming back, Lightning jumped up over the thing, and on her way down plunged her sword into the corpse dragging

dragging her sword down the length of it's back causing blood to squirt from the wound covering Lightning from chest to toe in blood turning her white vest blood red. Fang then jumped up

for what was to be the final blow but was knocked back to the ground by the corpse making a sickening crack as she connected with the floor of the cavern. Lightning took her turn, and ran

at her opponent front flipping behind it, and stabbing her sword dead into the corpse's spine. She then switched it into gun mode with the sword still in there causing it to gush massive

amounts of blood as the transformation dealt massive loads of damage crippling it's spine. When the transformation was done Lightning started to fire repeatedly into the beast's back making

it cry out in pain. Lightning turned to Fang to see her sitting up, Fang looked to her friend to see her covered in blood her legs shining with the substance however somehow Lightning had

managed to avoid getting any on her face. "I hope that's his, and not yours!" Fang's raspy voice called out as she stood up, and made her way over to the 'Cie corpse that was now laying on

the ground twitching slightly. "Ha it is." Lightning responded giving the creature a kick, as Fang came to stand by Lightning's side the corpse's bottom that resembled a tail swiftly shot out

wrapping itself around the two women pulling them together like a snake would to it's prey. "Ah!" Both women chorused as it tightened it's grip on them, and no matter how much they

struggled they could no get free. Lightning looked up to see that the 'Cie corpse now stood at full height, and now looked down on them, Lightning continued to struggle only to find that she

was helpless because her arms were pinned to her sides unable to free them. After a few more minutes of struggling Lightning began to see timy black dots across her vision marking that

she would soon lose consciousness. Gasping for air she looked beside her to see that Fang was having no luck either, and seconds later she passed out unconsciouss her head falling

forward, and not long after Fang followed her also passing out.

* * *

"FLOWERS!? ARE YOU SERIOUS!!?" Rygdea yelled at Cid's stupidity while shaking his head.

"Yeah what's wrong with flowers? I mean girl's love flowers." Cid asked frowning at his friend's outburst of his suggestion.

"Yeah girl's that aren't Lightning." Rygdea responded.

"Oh but you don't know her as well as I do. She keeps it a secret that she adores flowers." Cid explained.

"Really?"

"Yeah she loves them."

* * *

Hours later Lightning, and Fang awoke to extreme pains in their backs. Groggily lifting her head Lightning blinked the sleep out of her eyes to find that they were in a strange place that was

not present in the back of the tunnel where they fought the 'Cie corpse. "What in the world?" Lightning breathed as she noticed that they weren't alone. Out of the darkness came a pack

of 'Cie corpses of about ten or twenty. This prompted Lightning to investigate why her back was in such pain, she looked up, and gasped as she saw that a 'Cie corpse was holding her

arms above her head using the tail like bottom with another one doing the same with her legs that now had dried blood on them. Lightning looked to her left to see Fang in the same

predicament, and now awake cursing fluently under her breath. The pack of 'Cie corpses then moved out of the way to let what Lightning guessed was their boss, or master to get through.

From behind the pack came a larger 'Cie corpse with a single glowing red eye in the center of it's head it slithered up until it was inches away from Lightning's face looking straight into her

eyes. "What are you doing here?" It surprisingly spoke. Lightning was taken aback, and could not form an answer on her tongue so she simply just stared back at it wide eyed.

"Whats wrong? why aren't you answering me?" It asked raising it's right hand tilting Lightning's chin back so she would look up at him.

"I...I.." Was all the sound Lightning could make clearly afraid of the beast.

"You put up a good fight with my best corpse...I'm impressed however you were not able to escape it's iron tail I see." It replied smugly.

"Uh...um.." Lightning still could not speak.

"Don't be afraid...I simply want to play a game with you...and your friend." The giant corpse said petting Lightning's long strawberry blond locks.

"W-what kind of game?" Lightning asked fear coating her shaky voice.

"I believe it is called...torture? am I right?" the corpse said making Lightning shake at the though of being tortured.

"Hey leave her alone." Fang's accented voice rang throughout the cavern.

"Clean her legs off I want her to be in perfect condition for this." It spoke turning to the other corpses who ran up to Lightning, and began washing her down. A few minutes later they were

and she was clean. "Alright then." The leader corpse said slithering back up to the strawberry blond. Once in front of her he pulled out a stone ball.

"Um...what the hell is that?" Lightning asked nervously her eyes flicking all over the room unable to focus on one thing.

"Oh this thing I believe it's what your people call a gag ball...is that right? However this one is rather ancient so it's made of stone. I hope you enjoy the taste." It said placing the large thing

into Lightning's mouth, and quickly locking it into place. "Mmmmph!" Lightning began swinging her head violently trying to remove the stone from her mouth.

"Ha ha ha the corpse laughed as it went, and did the same thing placing one into Fang's mouth but she was more calm about the situation. Lightning continued to growl trying to remove the

foul taste from her mouth still whipping her head from side to side. "Okay then let's get started." The giant spoke signalling for two 'Cie corpses to go up to Lightning, and Fang placing their

hands onto the women's chests. Lightning glared at the corpse before a sudden impulse was sent through her body causing her to scream out into the gag as her body was electrocuted

from the corpse. "Oh yeah Lightning I forgot to mention that you shouldn't bite down on that or you'll lose your teeth most likely." The leader spoke happily at the young woman's screams

of pain. Soon Fang's muffled screams joined in as the two women continued being tortured, tears began forming in Lightning's eyes as the excruciating pain continued, and her throat became

sore from the constant screaming. Soon Lightning, and Fang felt their eyes becoming heavy as death was near but before they could close the 'Cie corpses casted a curaga on both of them.

Lightning slowly lifted her head to see the leader of the corpses in front of her, a second later he ordered the corpses holding her to release her. Lightning fell to the floor with a thud,

she layed there moaning in pain unable to come to her senses. "Now Lightning you will fight that same corpse from before. Good luck." The leader spoke.

"Mmmph?" Lightning moaned looking up to see the corpse with the crystal come into view, she slowly stood up, and fumbled around until she got the stone ball out of her mouth-surprisingly

she had restrained from biting down on it, and still had her teeth-and climbed to her feet. "Why are you doing this?" She asked her voice hoarse.

"Ha ha I'm doing this because your the one the prophecy has chosen." The corpse informed.

"Prophecy? what the hell are you talking about I've never heard of any prophecy." Lightning replied panting for air, despite the curaga spell she was still beaten up pretty bad.

"In good time my dear in good time." Was the corpse's slithered response.

"Who the hell are you? and you still haven't told me why your doing this!" Lightning snapped back at him.

"I am doing this because your the chosen one, and I want to test your strength." He informed causing Lightning to frown.

"Damn it! let us go!" Lightning yelled before holding her chest in pain as her breath hitched.

"I can't do that...it would ruin my fun...but enough talk let's get started." And with a wave of his hand the 'Cie corpse lunged at Lightning knocking her to the ground. She was pinned down

by the big creature, and had no means of escape so Lightning pulled out her Blaze Edge, and fired off a few rounds into the thing's face causing it to scream out in pain giving Lightning a

window of opportunity for escape which she took without hesitation. Lightning swiftly brought her legs up to her chest, and kicked the corpse off of her sending it sliding across the ground

she followed up by jumping to her feet, and charging towards the enemy quickly slashing at it with her Blaze Edge in sword mode. The creature easily blocked these attempts using it's arms,

and countering with a head butt that knocked the young woman to the floor. Lightning groggily looked up to see the beast leaping back onto her but she was ready this time, and once more

brought her legs to her chest, and springboarded the corpse over her head into it's spectating allies. Lightning climbed to her feet taking in deeps breaths to stay calm, because inside she

was a bundle of nerves surprisingly scared of the beast, and the predicament she found herself in. Lightning looked over to see Fang still bound, and gagged watching with hope in her eyes

turning back to the fight at hand she saw the 'Cie corpse standing up now, and ready for another round. Lightning quickly casted a blizzaga spell that connected causing a scream of pain

to ring in her ears, the young strawberry blond followed this up by running up to the beast, and carving him up like a turkey. However the corpse once again countered this time using it's

tail to wrap around her legs, and throw her into the wall. With a loud crack Lightning's body fell limp, and crumbled to the floor raspy breaths were heard from the young woman as she

struggled to breath. Her opponent went up to her, and picked her up by the collar of her shirt as this was done Lightning's head fell forward signalling she was barely conscious. The 'Cie

corpse dropped her back to the ground, upon contact Lightning moaned in pain as the corpse turned back to see her still awake. It slithered back up to her, and pulled her hair back making

Lightning cry out in pain, and look the creature in the face which caused her to shiver. Lightning spat into the thing's face causing it to drop her, and she rolled to the side grabbing her sword

and slashing at it's spine making blood squirt onto her already stained vest. With it's back still turned Lightning took the opportunity to go for the finishing blow but as she got within a few

feet of the former human it self imploded the blast sending Lightning across the stretch of cavern making her slam into the far wall causing a dent where her body had struck to appear.

Lightning fell to the floor again barely conscious from the contact of her head smacking off the stone wall. The leader 'Cie corpse slithered up to the barely conscious young woman, and

lifted her chin with his finger so he could look her-in the barely opened-eyes. "You put up a good fight...with some more experience you will be able to achieve what you were always meant

to." The corpse spoke as two of his goons came over, and picked up the young woman, and brought her back to where Fang was, and restrained her like before placing the stone gag ball

back into her mouth. Seconds later Lightning was unconscious in a dreamless sleep, Fang looked at her friend worried about how she was feeling from the beating she had received.

"Mmmmph!" Fang moaned as her head was turned to face the leader of the nest of 'Cie corpses.

"So...what exactly are two beautiful women such as yourselves doing in a place like this?" It asked stroking Fang's cheek.

"Mmmph mmmf!" Fang moaned emphasising the point that she couldn't talk with the gag still in place in her mouth.

"Hmm...I don't know maybe I'll have you fight in the next round, your friend seems worn out as she had been doing a lot lately." The corpse spoke making Fang shiver with fear.

It then took out a damp cloth, and placed it over Fang's mouth putting her out cold as she breathed in the drug, her last thought being _Where do they get this stuff...I mean their 'Cie corpses!_

_

* * *

_

"Snow I'm worried. I haven't been able to get a hold of Lightning lately!" Serah choked her voice laced with worry, and her eyes tearing up.

"Don't worry Serah I'm sure she's fine. Like her phone probably died." Snow comforted as the two watched Hope attempt to make his own home made pizza pie which resulted in the kitchen

being made a mess of. "Aw maaaaaaan Lightning's going to kill me if she see's this." Hope groaned looking around himself at the mess he had created.

"Don't worry about it Hope. I won't tell her if you clean it up." Serah said with her hand over her eyes.

"Alrighty!" Hope replied cheerily as he took his pizza pie out of the oven seeing it was ready to be eaten.

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

_"_Vanille what brings you around here at this hour?" Snow asked upon answering the door to see the young red-head playing with the end of her skirt.

"Hiya Snow! I don't know I was bored without Fang around so I went to Sazh's but him, and his wife are getting divorced so their fighting so I didn't want to stay there of course. And I

thought I'd come by here, and see if Lightning, and Fang were back yet." Vanille explained her whole day to Snow who stood there astonished by the small girl's love of talking.

"Well there not back yet...but come on in Hope made a pizza pie." Snow said with a smile as Vanille bounced up, and down on her tippy toes.

"Thanks Snow!" She said happily rushing in the dooe as he stepped aside.

* * *

Rygdea, and Cid were standing in a flower shop waiting in line with the flowers Cid had picked out for Lightning.

"Dude seriously...did you have to pick the ones that are like the same color as her hair?" The brown haired man asked gazing around the shop.

"Uh...yeah they just happen to be her favourite." Cid replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Really man I bet she kicks your ass because of it." The captain told his general.

"Next!" The shopkeeper called out. When Cid, and Rygdea got up to the counter they saw she was a young girl of about twenty-two with long brown hair in a braid wearing a pink dress.

"Hello welcome to my humble establishment." She spoke softly with a smile on her face.

"Hello to you too." Rygdea returned the greeting with a smile, as Cid handed over the flowers to pay for them. Once done the two left the shop, and headed back to the airship.

* * *

A few hours later Lightning's eyes fluttered open as pain flared in her back. "Mmmpf." She moaned in pain as the 'Cie corpse held her up binding her arms, and legs.

"Good morning." The leader spoke slithering up to her. "Today I will answer your questions." It said tilting her chin back, Lightning just stared into it's empty face clearly ancient from the

wrinkles, and other land marks of old age. _It's a surprise he hasn't stopped moving yet...that's are only chance for escape _she thought still staring into it's eye.

"Mmmph." Lightning moaned trying to get him to take her gag out.

"No that's not how were going to do it. First I'll ask you a question, and if you want to know the answer you'll blink twice. If not you'll only blink once understand?" It asked in response

Lightning blinked twice. "Good girl..now I assume you want to know more about the prophecy?" The corpse asked the young girl.

"Mmmph!" Lightning replied nodding her head up, and down quickly.

"Oh no now you've gone, and confused yourself. Remember it's two blinks for yes, and only one for no." It reminded her while stroking her hair. When it asked again Lightning responded by

blinking twice signaling that she indeed wanted to hear the answer to the question. "Alright then the prophecy is that a young woman which is you is a L'Cie is going to kill a Fal'Cie all by

herself which would absolve the world of all L'Cie." The leading corpse said petting Lightning as if she were it's pet, the strawberry blond looked to her left to see Fang was awake, and

was watching the 'Cie corpse fondle her friend petting her hair, rubbing her legs, her chest establishing complete dominance over the young woman.

"Mmmph!" Lightning squealed loudly as the monster had moved it's hand up her skirt, rubbing her sensitive area before he brought his hand up to the belt holding her skirt up trying to undo.

Lightning started to buck her hips making it difficult to undo her skirt causing the corpse to hiss. "Fine fine...now would you like to know what your little sister has in store for her?"

Lightning quickly blinked her eyes afraid of the truth. "Alright then. I've sent a view corpses down to your house...that's right we know where you live. And their going to kidnap her, and bring

her to our loving nest...who knows I may play the same game with her just without the sexual advances because she's only eighteen. Although I will admit she's very pretty but not beautiful

like you." The failed L'Cie explained making Lightning's eyes widened at her baby sister's danger.

* * *

Back at the Farron home in Bowdam Serah, Snow, Hope, and Vanille had finished the pizza pie that had surprisingly turned out to be good despite the mess Hope had made.

"So Serah" Snow started with a grin on his face that instantly let her know it was going to be inappropriate "How about you, and me go upstairs to your room and-"

"Nice try Snow but Lightning would kill me, and I'm waiting until after marriage." Serah cut him off grinning as Snow's own smile now ceased to exist.

"You go girl!" Vanille cheered her friend on to stay abstinent.

"Babe I was going to say look at your baby pictures obviously!" The big man said now laughing at what was on his fiancee's mind.

"O-oh." Serah squeaked now blushing a deep red.

"Come on Serah." Hope said surprised at what the girl had on her mind because she always seemed like an innocent girl.

"O-oh okay guys I'm gonna go out for a little walk." Serah said quietly standing up.

"Serah are you nuts!? it's nine thirty at night, and it's cold out!" Vanille cried surprised that the not so dressed for warmth girl headed for the door.

"I'll be fine." She replied with a smile. Serah looked down at herself seeing that she was still dressed in her white sleeveless dress shirt with her semi transparent sweeper in the same style

of shirt over it. She also wore her red pleated skirt with black lace, and her thigh high black stockings showing just a little of her thighs to tease Snow _You know Lightning's always telling me _

_to dress more conservative, and yet she's always wearing that short skirt of her's with her bare legs showing at least I cover mine up...but she does have gorgeous legs...just like every part of her is_

_beautiful...she looks so much like mom and I kind of resemble her too...I hope I grow up to look more like Serenity. _Serah thought as she exited the house, and headed down the street, after

a few minutes of walking Serah heard rustling from the bushes to her right. The young teenager slowly crept over to the brush and tried to get a look into what was making the noise

and let out a loud cry as something sticky was wrapped around her legs up to her knees. Serah continued to scream out for help as she was dragged into the bushes, no matter what she

grabbed onto it always pulled her free not long after Serah's throat was sore from screaming but she wouldn't stop the fear kept her going anything to be free from the entity that was

pulling her to an uncertain fate. Once she was hidden behind the bush Serah came face to face with her assailant it was what she had read, and seen pictures of in the many textbooks

she learned from at her old high school. It was a 'Cie corpse, and it had a frightening look on it's face that chilled Serah to the bone that made her stop screaming as her tongue seemed to

be caught in her throat preventing her from calling for help. Finally Serah got her voice back screaming louder than before probably louder than she ever screamed in her life, the corpse began

wrapping her up like a spider would it's prey. In no time it had her arms pinned to her sides adding to her panic as she struggled to break free but to no avail as the substance was way to

sticky, and strong. Finally the 'Cie corpse cut off her screams for help as it wrapped the web like substance around her mouth sealing her lips shut so all the young girl could do was whimper

helplessly as the beast picked her up, and carried her away to an unknown location. Along the way Serah had been put to sleep by the creature, and now she awoke to find herself laying

on the cold stone floor of some sort of ancient cavern. Something sparked Serah's memory of what this place was as she remembered the time Lightning had helped her with her homework

on the ancient races of Pulse. Apparently this imparticular race had lived in a cavern that very much resembled this very one that she was laying in. Suddenly Serah felt sick to her stomach

as she remembered that the race was some what addicted, and fascinated with torture, and tying people up _sick bastards _Serah thought as she rolled onto her side with a moan, suddenly

she heard a muffled scream pierce through the air making her shiver in fear, and her eyes go wide. _That scream although muffled no doubt by some gag...it was so full of fear but it...sounded_

_like Lightning! _Serah realized it was her elder sister who was being tortured which made her furious. Just then the leading 'Cie corpse slithered into the 'cell' that Serah was being held in.

"Hello little lady." It spoke confidently making Serah shake with fear, the thing walked over to her, and ripped the webbing from her mouth causing Serah to cry out in pain.

"Why are you torturing that poor person!" Serah screamed at the beast struggling to break free from the webbing that bound her _come to think of it she can't be Lightning because she's on _

_Pulse. _Serah thought as the corpse ripped the rest of the webbing from her small body, as soon as it was removed Serah quickly stood up, and ran to a corner of the room to seek shelter.

"You know what kind of people we are. Sure we turned into 'Cie corpses but we still retained our personalities, and souls if you will, but we are the same as when we were human." It replied.

"What do you want with me?" Serah asked her voice, and body trembling with fear.

"Well I want to show you something." The corpse spoke advancing on the eighteen year old cornering her. Minutes later it had her tied up at the wrists, and ankles with one of the ancient

stone gags in her mouth, and was carrying her down the cavern to a large chamber where the scream was resonating from. The whole time Serah was squeezing her eyes shut afraid to look

and see what scary stuff would be around her. Serah felt herself placed into some sort of chair, she opened her eyes to find that she was sitting in an old, and rotting chair. Another corpse

had already gone to work adding some more rope to her ankles so they were tied to the chair, and it continued to do the same with her wrists. Serah looked up to see what looked like two

'Cie corpses holding someone up restraining their arms above the head, and also restraining their legs. The unknown person was covered up with what looked like a black sheet that was

tight on them, she could see the person's breath pulling the sheet towards their face. The unknown person's breathing seemed ragged, and shaky indicating that they were hurting finally

the bigger corpse went over to the person's lithe, and fit form, and pulled the sheet from off them. Serah looked up to see the corpse reveal that it was her sister Lightning who was the one

bound under the sheet, and she wore a matching gag as Serah did. Lightning's eyes widened as she saw her baby sister bound to a chair in front of her, and that made her angry as she

started to try to swing her body around only to have the corpse holding her to tighten it's grip around her slim fit form making her attempts futile.

"Mmmph!" Lightning growled angrily shooting daggers at the leading corpse as she continued to attempt escape moaning the whole time. Serah's own eyes were wide as it was her sister

who was the one that was being tortured, and the one where the muffled screams came from. "Mmmph!" Serah also moaned angrily at what the corpses had done to her sister as she saw

Lightning's eyes were tired, and heavy showed she wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. The corpse put an end to Lightning's struggling by slithering up to her, and grabbing her throat

and tilting her head back to look at him. "Enough struggling...what did you not enjoy the present I went through all the trouble for preparing for you?" It asked a little angrily.

"Mmm." Lightning moaned dropping her head helplessly while simaltaniously noticing that Fang was not present where she had been before the corpse put the sheet over her.

"That's a good girl." The corpse spoke, before turning to Serah "Do you enjoy this present I got for you." It spoke motioning to the tortured Lightning, Serah shook her head angrily.

"Well then maybe you'll enjoy her more if I do this." The thing spoke as it revealed what looked like his hand was made competely of electricity, in a quick motion it struck Lightning in the

chest with it's electrified hand making the young adult shriek in pain, and writhe in the 'Cie corpses hold. This continued on for a while with Lightning being hit over, and over it hurt her so

bad that hot tears streamed down her face as she was brutally tortured. Tears also went down Serah's face as she was forced to sit there, and watch the torment her older sister was being

put through, Lightning's loud muffled cries driving her insane at the pain she was put through by the monster. Finally after what seemed like hours the beast stop torturing Lightning, and

stepped away from her. Serah watched horrified as Lightning's head dropped almost lifelessly to her chest, her breathing was ragged, and she was barely alive, the corpse then slithered

over to Serah. "You know that was originally supposed to be you. However your dear caring older sister volunteered for me to torture her instead as long as I didn't hurt you." It informed.

Serah looked down guilty that her sister had been hurt to protect her. "Alright then I'll leave the rest to you...finish her off." The leading corpse said leaving as another 'Cie corpse made it's

way over to the barely conscious Lightning who weakly lifted her head to see the corpse in front of her. Lightning gave Serah an apologizing look, and if she was not gagged she would have

smiled to help comfort her little sister who was weaping silently. As the corpse rose it's hand to strike down the helpless young woman a figure swooped in, and quickly struck down the

beast with one attack. With the corpses defeated Lightning fell to the floor landing on her stomach with a light thud, and groan, the figure knelt down, and removed the gag from Lightning's

mouth allowing her to speak. Lightning weakly lifted her head up off the floor to gaze up at her saviour through three quarters closed eyes "W-who a-are y-you?" She asked.


	14. Chapter 13: Add Another Branch

Sisterly Love Chapter 13: Add Another Branch To The Family Tree, And Start Trimming The Sanctum's

"W-who a-are y-you?" Lightning asked looking up at her savior who was dressed in black pants, and a black-blue turtleneck with a lone sleeve on the left side. He also wore a single

black pauldron that adorned a silver wolf head on it, he wore this piece of protective equipment on his left shoulder.

"My name is Cloud." He responded in a husky sort of soft voice. Lightning looked up with some difficulty to see his face, blue-green eyes with a faint glow stared down at her with worry.

His facial structure resembled her own just much more masculine-the way her father's had been-his hair was blond, and spiky which shared a resemblance with a chocobo's ass.

Lightning attempted to stand up only to have Cloud push her back down keeping his hand on her back so she wouldn't try to get up again.

"Stay down, your to hurt to stand." He spoke standing up, and turning towards Serah. Lightning fumbled with her gunblade until she got a grip on it, and pulled it out of it's holster pointing

it at Cloud. "Step away from her!" She commanded weakly, the hand that was holding the gun shaking uncontrollably, as a result she couldn't shoot him if she tried.

"Calm down, I'm here to help." The blond said turning to face the young woman he had rescued.

"I don't care! don't touch her chocobo ass!" Lightning snarled struggling to sit up, at this time she noticed the man's ridiculously large sword. It was a large silver buster sword just about the

size of the man's own body, and it rested in a holster on his back that looked as though it were suited to carry more than one weapon.

"Mmmm." Serah moaned uneasy about the whole situation of how some mysterious man had come in out of nowhere, and saved her older sister's life, and now said sister still not trust

the man. "Fine. Untie her." Lightning growled nodding her head in Serah's direction, in response the man-Cloud-nodded, and quickly untied the girl. Once free she ran to her sister's side,

and hugged her tightly. "We can't stay here." Cloud said walking over to the two sisters who were still hugging one another.

"No. I still have a friend in here!" Lightning told him remembering that Fang was not in the room.

"You mean the tan woman?" Cloud asked which Lightning verified with a quick nod "Don't worry I already got her out." He informed making Lightning breath a sigh of relief upon hearing of

her friend's safety. A loud cry from a nearby 'Cie corpse caught the groups attention. "We should get going." Cloud said looking in the direction of the screech, Lightning nodded in agreement.

Once again when she tried to get up Cloud held her down causing her anger to bubble. "FOR CRYING OU-MMMMPH!" Lightning was cut off as Cloud clapped his hand over her mouth.

"Do you want them to know where we are?" He asked the strawberry blond.

"They already know where we are." Came Lightning's muffled reply.

"Then let's get going!" Serah chimed in as she hopped to her feet, and made her way over to what she assumed to be the exit.

"Can I get up now?" Lightning asked her voice still muffled by Cloud's hand, he responded with a nod, and released Lightning's mouth, and helped her to her feet. Once up Lightning swayed

uneasily barely able to stand up due to the beating she received earlier, so Cloud swiftly picked her up bridal style much to the young woman's dismay. It took the trio about twenty minutes

to escape the ancient catacombs of the 'Cie corpses nest. Upon exiting the great maze Lightning found that they were on a grassy cliff overlooking the great wilderness known as Pulse.

"How did we get here?" Lightning asked looking over the green lands of Pulse.

"The cavern stretched out under the village, and led to this place." Cloud said putting the girl down, but Lightning who was still hurting fell back into him being herld up by Cloud.

"Thanks." She muttered sparing a quick glance over her shoulder to get a good look at the man.

"Don't mention it." He replied with what looked like...a loving look in his eyes?

"Wheres Fang?" She asked to get her mind off of this strange man.

"She's over there." He said pointing to the tan woman who was lying down in the grass with her hands behind her head, and one leg crossed over the other watching the clouds.

At this point Lightning caught herself leaning against the blond, and stood upright although her legs still felt weak "I've got a couple of questions for you." Lightning called over her shoulder

as she stumbled over to a large tree, and sat down against it with her right leg crossed over her left knee. She patted the ground next to her motioning for Cloud to sit next to her.

Hesitating the spiky haired individual made his way over, and sat next to the young woman whom he had saved, Lightning watched Serah join Fang in watching the clouds before turning to

the man who was named after said fluffy water particles. "So, you never really answered who you are." Lightning said looking at Cloud.

"Hmm, and you never told me your name." Cloud deflected the question with a meaningless response, Lightning let out a sigh before answering.

"Fine. Hi I'm Lightning Farron it's _soooo _nice to meet you, and you might be?" Lightning said sarcastically trailing off with her hand for Cloud to continue but he didn't he only chuckled in reply.

"You have an attitude just like I've heard." He said continuing to laugh.

"Of course we all have one." Lightning retorted looking out over the cliff.

"So how are you feeling?" Cloud asked tucking a stray strand of hair behind the strawberry blond's ear.

"Don't touch me, I don't even know you!" Lightning snapped smacking his hand away.

"But I saved your life." Was Cloud's quick response.

"That's not enough. Answer me right now. Who are you?" The strawberry blond yelled .

"Alright Lightning." Cloud sighed.

"Don't speak my name as if were friends!" Lightning snapped again, but this time she slapped Cloud hard across the face. Cloud however did not seem fazed by this, and took her hands in

his own making the young woman squirm clearly uncomfortable with the situation. "Well, I don't know how to tell you this...but your my little sister, I'm your big brother." He stuttered out.

Upon hearing this Lightning's eyes widened, and she froze her whole body tensing up.

"I...don't...believe you." She said turning away, Cloud gently grabbed her chin, and turned her face so she was looking at him. Cloud took in her expression: her eyes were tearing up with

a couple threatening to fall, her beautiful face held a pained expression, and her body was shaking slightly.

"Are you alright?" He asked concerned putting a hand on her bare shoulder.

"Y-yeah I-I need to be alone." She spoke quickly standing, and limping off into the nearby pasture, Cloud continued to watch the younger girl leave as he heard grass scrunching nearby him.

"What's wrong with her?" The blond asked not turning to see his companion.

"Well." It was the tan woman who approached him "you may not see it but Lightning has a fragile side that she hides behind her anger." Fang said taking a seat beside the man.

"And that side of her personality is very breakable, like if you mention her parents she kinda just breaks down...what did you say to her?" Fang asked curiously.

"Why does the mention of her parents affect her so much?" Cloud asked turning to Fang.

"Oh...her father died when she was at a very young age, and her mother passed on when she was fifteen. I guess it affects her that way is because when her mother died her childhood

ended because she had to take care of Serah who was twelve at the time. So she never had a proper childhood with both parents to care for her, and she had to become the mother for

Serah which affected her psychologically. You know her, and Serah aren't really like sisters it's more of a mother daughter kind of thing because Lightning cared for her for so long. But

lately they've bonded, and become real close now their the closest sisters you could find." Fang explained "So what did you say to her?"

"I told her the truth." Cloud replied, and Fang could tell by the look in his eyes that he was telling the truth.

"Which is?" She pushed.

"That I'm her big brother...that she's my little sister." Cloud breathed quietly as Fang's eyebrows shot right up, and her eyes widened.

"Really." Was all she had to say to that.

"Should I go see her?" Cloud asked unsure of what to do in the current situation, Fang shook her head 'no' in response.

"Leave that to Serah." She said nodding her head in the small girl's direction.

"Are you alright Lightning?" Serah asked her sister as she came to a stop behind her.

"Yeah." Lightning replied her voice stuffy from crying, Serah could tell that she had been crying, and wrapped her arms around her in a hug, Lightning responded by leaning back into her

sister's hold. "What's wrong?" Serah asked after a few moments.

"Nothing." Came Lightning's quick reply to Serah's question.

"Lightning your having one of your weak moments, I know that something is wrong now will you tell me?" Serah asked in a soothing voice.

"F-fine." Lightning stuttered turning to face her little sister "You know that Cloud guy?" Serah nodded at this "Well he claims to be our older brother." Lightning finished looking over to the

tree where Cloud, and Fang rested. Serah's eyes widened upon hearing the news that she had an older brother, and another sibling.

"And that made you think about Mom, and Dad?" Serah asked knowing the answer.

"Yeah, and I don't know I just needed to let it out I guess." Lightning sobbed swiping tears out of her eyes frustrated .

"Don't worry Serenity...it's normal to feel this way." Serah said soothing her sister, calming her down as Lightning's shaking form ceased to do so now.

"Y-yeah I guess so...thanks Serah." Lightning whispered getting down on her knees, and hugging her sister as Serah did the same.

"No problem...it would help if you showed your emotions more often you know." Serah said softly into Lightning's ear.

"I know...but I don't like to." Lightning said shakily.

"Whether you like it or not Lightning, you have a fragile side, and you need to confront it every now, and then...it's better than covering it up with anger." Serah whispered still hugging her

sister. "Serah?" Lightning asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah?" The small girl replied.

"How come mom, and dad's deaths effected me more than you? I know you don't remember dad but still." Lightning asked her voice shaky whenever she mentioned her parents.

"Um I guess it's because...I don't know what to tell you I guess it just hurt you deeper than me." Serah said shrugging her shoulders.

"I guess that makes sense...I did know them longer than you, and you still were having trouble understanding the concept of death at that time." Lightning whispered, after a few moments

Serah spoke "So let's go meet this older brother of ours." Lightning nodded her head in agreement as they turned to the tree where their brother sat.

"So how come we've never heard about you before from our parents?" Lightning asked approaching Cloud.

"Yeah where were you all this time?" Serah asked as she, and Lightning took a seat on each side of him.

"Well when I was born there was an incident, and I was taken away, and adopted by the Strife's, and I lived in Eden." Cloud said making eye contact with Lightning.

"You said that I'm your little sister so how old are you?" Lightning asked her brother.

"I'm twenty-three, your two years younger than me." Cloud told the strawberry blond, Lightning nodded showing that she understood.

"How did you find out about us?" Serah asked from Cloud's right.

"My friend's parents knew yours...well ours I guess, and they told her about me, and she told me that they had two daughters, my sisters. So I wanted to find you two, and become a part

of your lives...you know protect you." Cloud explained staring at the ground.

"Hmmm that's sweet." Serah said giving her new found brother a hug, Lightning however was not so enthusiastic.

"I don't need to be protected." She said coldly looking away from Cloud.

"You did back there, and I delivered," The blond said causing Lightning to scowl.

"Whatever, just don't go thinking I owe you one, and all that." Lightning growled glaring at the ground.

"All's I expect in return is for you to be a good little sister." Cloud said grabbing Lightning's chin, and turning her head to face him, Lightning opened her mouth to speak but then shut it again

before finally muttering a quiet 'fine' while lowering her gaze to the grass around her smooth bare legs.

* * *

"Serah's been gone for a long time now." Vanille said while playing with one of her pig tails.

"I know do you think we should go out, and look for her?" Snow asked concerned for his fiance.

"No. However hard it is to sit around, and wait it's better than leaving, and having her come back to find that were not here then we come back, and she's not here so we would leave again,

and it would be a whole mess like thing of never ending coming, and going." Vanille explained while playing with Lightning's stress ball.

"Hmm makes sense." Was all Snow said in reply "Well wanna watch a funny movie?" he asked after a moment of thought.

"Sure!" Was Vanille's happy response.

* * *

"Dammit this thing is stubborn!" Jihl cursed as she continued to bang on the iron bars that kept her in the cell. "There!" Jihl yelled excited as one last hit broke the bars down, and she quickly

exited the cell, and startd to search for her weapon. After a quick sweep of the corridor she stumbled across what she suspected to be where they kept the prisoners weapons. It only took

her a few seconds to locate her cobalt rapier, and put it in it's sheath at her waist. "Alright let's go find my beautiful beautiful little kitten Lightning." The blond sais to herself as she exited

the prison altogether.

* * *

Back at the big tree outside of the 'Cie corpse nest, Lightning had fallen asleep as she was still exhausted from the torture the corpses had made her endure.

"So where are we going to go from here?" Fang asked as she watched Lightning sleep.

"Your tired I can see it in your eyes go to sleep." Cloud told the tan Oerba who let out a sigh followed by a yawn.

"Yeah, I guess your right. Goodnight." Fang said as she leaned her head against Lightning's which was resting on the tan woman's shoulder.

In seconds Fang was fast asleep, and it was only Cloud, and Serah who were awake.

"So what do you think of Lightning?" Serah suddenly asked Cloud which caused him to jerk his body, and look her way.

"Huh? oh she's...a bit cold but I can see some warmth in her. Her eyes to be exact." Cloud told the small girl while looking at the sleeping Lightning.

"No, I mean beautiful...she's really beautiful huh." Serah said also turning to face her sister.

"Yes she is." Cloud admitted watching the beauty sleep "I hadn't expected her to be this good looking." He finished.

"Yeah she's so lucky." Serah said absent minded.

* * *

"Okay she must have gone this way because I don't remember that being there." Jihl muttered to herself as she turned toward the 'Cie corpse cave, she tentatively took a look inside the

dark cavern to see if there were any immediate threats, which their weren't. Jihl's high heels made a distinct clicking sound as she slowly, and carefully moved deeper into the dark tunnel

until she met a wall, and could not go any farther. Jihl casted an artificial fire spell to light up the end of the corridor so she could see properly. "What have we here." Jihl's words echoed

off the walls of the tunnel as she knelt down to get a better look at the small inscriptions that adorned the walls, Jihl suddenly spotted the picture of Lightning, and the prophecy.

"Hmm it seems that kid has a greater purpose after all." Jihl smiled as she charged up a powerful attack, and knocked the back wall in "Now let's see what's hiding back here."

Jihl walked for what seemed like an eternity when she came across a eerie blue light at the end of the tunnel, slowly approaching it she quickly knew that things weren't as they seemed.

Jihl's sharp experienced mind knew that it was an ambush, so she jumped over the blue light drawing her sword of the same color, and swiped down feeling, and hearing the sound of

cutting flesh Jihl smirked as she was not tricked. The room quickly lit up to reveal the same 'Cie corpse that had defeated Lightning multiple times, it swiped at her with it's right arm which

Jihl blocked with ease, and laughed in it's face. She countered with a powerful swing of her sword that sent a yellow energy beam out, and struck the corpse right in the cobalt crystal that

was located in the middle of it's body. The blast sent the 'Cie corpse flying back into the wall, and the following impact sent the room into a shaking fit as dust, and dirt fell from the ceiling.

"Might not wanna do that again, or this place will collapse." Jihl muttered as she ran toward her enemy, despite wearing high heels she did not trip, or break her ankles...somehow.

The corpse recovered, and just as Jihl got to him he attacked by whipping his tail at her which Jihl did not expect, and was knocked to the floor her head cracking off of the concrete that

was only present in this small chamber. The blond woman groggily loked up to see the corpse approaching her slowly as if savoring every moment of the woman's helplessness much like

it had enjoyed every second of Lightning's helpless misery. Jihl looked up to see the corpse hovering over her it's eye glinting dangerously as it bent down, and picked her up by her throat,

Jihl chocked struggling to breath as the thing held her high off the ground. Jihl struggled a bit but didn't get anywhere, the corpse then threw her into the far wall the force of the throw

causing a large dent to appear around Jihl's body as she lifelessly fell to the floor. The corpse made it's way over to the woman ready to deliver the finishing strike, but as it raised it's hand

Jihl rolled to the side, and performed a lightning quick spin attack that cut deep into the 'Cie corpse's back earning a scream of agony that caused Jihl to cover her ears with her gloved hands.

Once regaining her composure Jihl castd a firaga spell that sent the corpse back into the wall, Jihl then jumped forward, and slashed downward on the beast making blood squirt from it's

wounds. In response it swiped at the woman but she easily jumped over it's arm, and followed up with another attack that connected with it's head which caused it to shoot back.

Jihl then brought her sword back, and went to stab it into the blue crystal but as she tried to stab into the thing was rock hard, and it forced Jihl's arm to recoil leaving the rock unharmed.

"This seemed to give the corpse energy as it was back in the fight, and swiftly knocked Jihl back to the floor, but the woman handspringed back showing some of the agility that Lightning

has but no where near as much. The corpse charged, and Jihl parried it's strike with her own connecting with the thing's side making more blood squirt from the wound, the corpse turned,

and Jihl casted a blizzaga spell that made contact with the thing's face permanently burning it there from the coldness of the spell. Jihl, now seeing the perfect opportunity to finish it off

brought her sword hand back down resting it behind her right hip with her arm extended as she charged her final attack which made her blade turn a bright yellow color as the beast slowly

regained it's balance, and stopped screaming. Just as the beast charged at her Jihl released the attack spinning in a complete circle with all of her strength making a powerful cut at the

thing's throat that brought it's head clean off making a thud as it hit the ground. Jihl looked up at the beast's neck to see that the cut was so clean that it took a couple of moments before

it started to bleed profusely before the body of the now true corpse fell to the floor lifelessly, Jihl smirked in triumph as she sheathed her sword after whipping it so all the blood fell off it.

Walking over to the dead body of the corpse Jihl knelt down, and pulled the crystal free "Is this what that kid Lightning was after?" She asked aloud as she placed it into her pocket,

and flipped her hair back while laughing. "Oh dear, I've kidnapped you twice Lightning, this will mark the third." She laughed walking further down the corridor.

* * *

"Ahh!" Lightning woke up with a scream from the nightmare she had experienced just moments before which had involved Jihl, and herself the final words of said nightmare still lingered

in her mind. "Oh dear, I've kidnapped you twice Lightning, this will mark the third." Lightning shivered in remembrance at how Jihl had said those words.

"What's wrong Lightning?" Serah asked concerned for her sister _wow Light's been having nightmares almost every time she falls asleep. I wonder what's troubling her or what she has nightmares_

_about _Serah wondered as she petted her sister's hair to help calm her down, Lightning slowly began to stop shaking as she rested her head against her sister's shoulder. Serah smiled as

she looked down at Lightning who seemed more calm now. "What's wrong Lightning?" She asked still petting her hair.

"It's Jihl." Lightning said willingly, Serah smiled as she opened up to her without a fight which made her extremely happy.

"What about her?" She asked frowning at why her sister would be mentioning her, Serah looked to see that both Cloud, and Fang were still gone taking a look around the place.

"I'm scared of her." Lightning told her little sister, her voice shaky, and full of fear.

"W-why are you scared of her? I mean you've fought her two times before right?" Serah asked surprised because Lightning was never afraid of anything.

"Yes I have, but it's my anger that takes over when I fight her. Maybe that's why I always end up getting hurt when I fight the woman." Lightning whispered looking up into Serah's eyes.

"Yeah that's true, but why are you afraid of her?" Serah asked once more, Lightning dropped her gaze back to the grass around her legs.

"I-she just scares the living daylights out of me. I've never seen anyone so cold, and cruel." Lightning explained refusing to meet Serah's gaze out of shame.

"It's normal to be afraid of people Lightning, she scares me too." Serah comforted her older sister while still petting her hair.

"Yeah, but I just feel so God damn weak when I am." Lightning growled in frustration at her fears.

"Don't worry about, all of us are weak. We all have our own fears, and weaknesses nothing to get all hung up on" Serah said indicating that all humans are weak.

'I guess your right...thanks Serah you've been great through all these ordeals I couldn't of done it without you. You've always been here for me, I only wish I could of been there for you

all those years when you needed me, I'm sorry I'm really sorry Serah." Lightning apologized looking up at Serah.

"It's alright Lightning, your here now, and it's better than never." Serah said hugging her sister.

* * *

"Jeez I am so bored." Vanille stated as the credits continued to roll as their movie finished, and the two sat in silence watching the white words scroll down the black screen.

"No kidding." Snow agreed playing with his beanie, and another one of Lightning's stress ball.

"How many of those does she have?" Vanille asked holding an exact duplicate of the ball in her hand.

"Who knows you know how stressed she can get. You should see the ones that she ruins." Snow said bouncing the ball on the ground.

"Yeah I bet their absolutely destroyed once she's through with them." Vanille laughed throwing her head back, but stopped when she hit the arm rest "Ow."

* * *

Jihl continued to walk for a bit until she came upon a fork in the path each looking the exact same. After some thought Jihl decided to take the left path for she felt something coming from

that path that felt strange to her, and seemed to suck her to it. Jihl walked forward but not of her own will as it seemed as though something was controlling her as she lost all control

over her sense of being. The blond woman kept going until she came into another cavern where the ceiling was fifty feet in the air, and it was only occupied by a single object in the middle

of the chamber. Jihl slowly approached the object, and placed her hand on the front of it, and as if on command the object opened up to reveal what looked like another world comprised

entirely of some blue substance. As she stepped inside Jihl got the sensation as if she were floating in mid air, looking down she found that that was exactly what she was doing swimming

forward Jihl gasped as a _very _large object dropped down from above, and was now floating in front of her. Jihl watched the thing with her mouth opened in astonishment as she gazed up

at what looked to be a metallic looking being, and only one thing came to her mind of what this could be-a Fal'Cie. She stared at the great thing in awe as it calmly met her gaze, it was

strange that though this thing was much more powerful, and could destroy her with a flick of it's wrist she felt strangely tranquil around the God-like being. With a flick of it's wrist some

blue web-like string materialized in front of it's hand, and flew at the blond woman wrapping itself around her restraining her so she couldn't flail about in an attempt to escape, Jihl started

to scream but they were reduced to muffled moans as the web-like stuff quickly wrapped itself around her mouth silencing her. Then an even larger string of the substance materialized in

front of the God-like being's hand, and flew at Jihl digging itself into the right side of her ribs, Jihl's muffled screams echoed throughout the chamber as the inevitable happened to her,

and the irony kicked in. "From this moment on you are my slave, my l'Cie. You are now marked for the world to see that you belong to me, Jihl Nabaat." The Fal'Cie's voice boomed.

Jihl couldn't respond for she was still gagged by the substance "Now I will test your strength against this great creature." The God boomed again as the substance released Jihl, and a very

large monster fell from the ceiling, and into the battlefield.

* * *

"So what are you two up too?" Fang called as she, and Cloud returned to the tree where Serah, and Lightning rested peacefully.

"Nothin." Serah responded shrugging her shoulders.

"How are you feeling? can you walk?" Cloud asked Lightning as he kneeled down before her.

"Yeah I'm fine let's get going." She spoke confidently standing up to her full height along with Serah doing the same "So where do we go from here?" Lightning asked gazing around the

landscape. "Uh..what about the crystal Light?" Fang asked remembering why they had come here in the first place.

"Hmm forget about it. I don't want to get into anymore trouble while Serah's still here." Lightning said ruffling said sister's hair.

"Then I'll go. You need to do what you need to do." Serah told her sister looking into her eyes silently telling her that it's alright.

"Okay, thanks sis." Lightning smiled "Fang you take her, and go home. I'll call Amodar to come pick you guys up." She finished taking out her phone.

"Alright, I guess you'll be doing some bonding with your big brother Cloud eh?" Fang asked grinning.

"Hello, were ready." Lightning spoke quickly as soon as the Sergeant major picked up the phone.

"Lightning! are you okay? it's been a while what happened?" His warm voice asked worried for his friend's safety.

"Uh lots of stuff. Listen your only taking Fang, and my little sister back with you I still have some things to take care of." Lightning told him searching the area for monsters.

"Your little sister? I don't remember taking her there." Amodar asked confused.

"Yeah you didn't, ask her how she got here, I don't have a clue." The strawberry blond spoke looking down at her sister.

"So what happened?" Amodar questioned again probably frowning on his side of the conversation Lightning thought.

"Fang, and Serah will tell you, now get your lazy ass over here." She spoke tired of his questions.

"Young people always speak so bluntly." Amodar muttered as he hung up the phone. Half an hour later Amoda's airship appeared in the field where the group was waiting, skillfully landing

the ship Amodar stepped out of the ship with a grin plastered on his face as he walked over, and hugged Lightning who froze in his hold as she was caught by surprise.

"How are you doing? you sounded pretty weak on the phone." He spoke taking a look at her, frowning upon seeing her blood stained vest. "Is that your blood Lightning?"

"Some of it yeah, some of it no about half an half." She explained taking a look down at the bloodied piece of clothing, it was covered completely stained red from blood.

"What were you tortured or something?" He asked jokingly smiling but stopped as he saw the young girl not answer, and drop her gaze to the grass. "You were weren't you?"

"Uh...yeah." Lightning whispered, the memory of the pain that emanated throughout her body made her shiver as it was one of the worst experiences of her life.

"I'm sorry, you alright?" The dark skinned man asked as he put his hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"I'm fine. But thank you." Lightning told him looking back up to meet his concerned gaze.

"Okay let's go you two." Amodar bellowed looking at the two other women, who nodded in response and headed towards the airship. Serah quickly ran over to Lightning wrapping her arms

around her in a tight hug. "Please, promise me you'll be safe Lightning don't go, and kill yourself now." Serah whispered in her ear choked up as if she'd cry.

"Don't worry Serah, I'll be fine...I promise, and I love you." Lightning whispered back into the shorter girl's ear as she tightened her grip on her.

"I love you too." Serah breathed stepping back, and heading towards the ship with a wave. As Cloud, and Lightning watched the airship go she couldn't help but feel a bit sad to watch her

sister go, once the vehicle was out of sight she turned to Cloud. "It's just me, and you huh." Lightning said at an attempt to make conversation.

"Looks that way, so what do you want to do from here?" He asked the younger girl who looked back at the entrance to the cavern.

"I need that crystal, were going back in." She said staring at the dark corridor where the sick corpses resided.

"Alright, I'll protect you this time." Cloud smirked as he headed off towards the entrance.

"Hey I told you I don't need protection!" Lightning yelled as she hurried to catch up to him.

"Last time you went in there you were brutally tortured. Do you want that to happen again?" Cloud asked as he stopped, and turned to face his little sister.

"Uh..no." Lightning muttered looking down at the ground. The two of them made their way to the entrance, and carefully peeked in only to see that it was abandoned with no signs of the

'Cie corpses. Lightning quietly took the lead as she silently stepped into the cave making sure every step she took was silent just in case the corpses had an ambush planned for the two

siblings. After a bit of uneventful walking Lightning became more relaxed, and a little less tense. She pulled a stress ball from the bag on her left thigh, and started to squeeze it over, and

over. "You alright" Cloud asked as he watched Lightning continue to squeeze the stress ball.

"Uh I guess. This place just makes me uneasy since what last happened here." Lightning told him still staring forward looking for any sign of movement.

"You just need to calm down." Cloud told the younger girl as he clapped a hand onto her shoulder.

"Yeah yeah let's go." Lightning said as they continued to walk in silence. About a half hour later the two came to an opening that led to a large chamber occupied by a lone figure, Lightning

instantly knew what it was, and walked into the chamber drawing her Blaze Edge into sword mode, the floor of the chamber was concrete so the young woman's boots made a clapping

sound with each step. "So you return." The lead corpse who had put Lightning through the torture spoke turning around to face the young woman.

"Where is that corpse with the crystal." Lightning said loudly coming to a stop about ten feet from the creature.

"And I suppose this is the man that saved you." It said looking to Cloud.

"Answer my question." Lightning yelled frustrated from it's way of prolonging things.

"I take that as a yes then?" It asked knowing the answer "Your knight in shining armor."

"Shut up!" The strawberry blond yelled at the menacing figure.

"But don't you want me to answer your question?" It mocked chuckling to itself.

"I'm not laughing." Lightning said flatly.

"But you should be. You see this is quite a hilarious predicament, you see you want to know where something is that I have the answer to but I won't tell you. Ha it's quite common with

every good vs evil battle if I may say so myself." The corpse gave it's small speech pacing back, and forth. Lightning who had had enough of it's stalling jumped towards it poised to strike

but her plan didn't go as she had thought as the corpse caught her by the waist, and smashed her into the wall holding her up against it, grabbed her throat and held her head up to

look into her fiery eyes. "Behave little girl, you should learn how to control that temper of yours." It said before throwing the young woman across the room, Lightning skidded across the

floor, and came to rest where Cloud was standing. He stood there with his arms crossed over his chest just like he had been as soon as they engaged the corpse in speech. He didn't

make a move to help her up for he knew that she probably couldn't stand after the wind was knocked out of her so he just stood there looking at the corpse while Lightning coughed as

she tried to regain her breath. "Who are you?" Cloud asked frowning at the failed l'Cie.

"Me? I am the leader, and ruler of this nest of 'Cie corpse." The thing said proudly pounding it's chest.

"No I mean your name." Cloud clarified.

"Hmmph my name is Kione a someone who comes from nowhere." Kione spoke his voice rising.

"Hmm so will you answer now that my fiery sister has calmed down?" Cloud asked as he looked down at Lightning who was on her hands, and knees panting.

"I guess I will." Kione started "This corpse that you seek Lightning...is dead."

"What?" Lightning asked between ragged breaths.

"Yes I found him not to long ago beheaded, and the crystal? missing." Kione explained his voice a snarl.

"What use do you have for the crystal anyways?" Cloud asked frowning st the beast.

"We kept that crystal safe because we knew that it would bring the young woman front he prophecy to us." Kione explained beginning to pace once more.

"What do you want with me?" Lightning asked still trying to catch her breath amazingly she was still unable to do so from the beast's shear strength.

"What we wanted was to torture you then sacrifice you for the Fal'Cie that resides in this very network of tunnels." The leader of the corpses spoke confidently. "We failed the first time but

we won't fail again." Kione spoke menacingly looking at Lightning's hunched form lustfully.

"Theirs a Fal'Cie in here!?" Lightning asked stunned by the fact.

"Ha ha." Cloud chuckled quietly.

"What's so funny!" Kione yelled at the blond spiky haired man.

"What are you?" Cloud asked the beast.

"I already told you. I'M THE LEADER OF THIS NEST OF CORPSES CHOSEN BY THE FAL'CIE ITSELF!" Kione yelled his voice shaking the chamber.

"Wrong. You are a failure. You say how you failed to sacrifice my little sister, and claim it won't happen again but you are wrong. It is in your nature to fail, you already failed to complete your

focus, and to sacrifice Lightning. Why? the oh so simple answer is that you are a failure, made to fail, and nothing more." Cloud mocked the corpse who thought he was all that.

"You will regret those words you little slime!" Kione yelled as he charged to hit Cloud but Lightning leapt in the way, and blocked the attack with her already drawn Blaze Edge.

"Hmm nice to see you got your breath back." Kione spoke smugly "Now let me take it away for good."

* * *

"What the hell!" Fang yelled as Serah, herself, and Amodar arrived at the Farron home to see the front door kicked in, Fang quickly left the other two behind simply because she was the

fastest for Amodar was to big, and Serah was not as fit as the tan Oerba. Fang rushed through the door but not before ordering the other two to stay behind, once inside Fang started

to walk slowly noticing that the house was not disturbed other than the front door being wide open. Walking silently into the living room Fang gazed around to find that Snow, and Hope

were not present. "Where's Lightning?" Fang whirled around to see Jihl leaning against the wall with her right leg crossed over the left, her head, and hair down covering her eyes, and

her arms crossed over her chest with her cobalt sword already drawn, and in her right hand.

* * *

_I have nothing left in this world. All I ever had was the Sanctum-my home, my rank, and my loyalty to the Sanctum without that I'm nothing. I can't return being a l'Cie, I could hide the fact that_

_I am one but that would be putting all of Cocoon in danger, and I couldn't do that. Ha ha ha I can hear Yaag now asking me if I thought my life is worth more than millions of Cocoon citizens but the_

_truth is it's not, no one's is not even that old bastard who runs the God damn Sanctum! I'm a ticking time bomb. Just like the group of people I've been pursuing for the last couple of days, weeks,_

_months. How is it they have the courage, and bravery to fight their own destiny? there's no hope. It all ends the same way with death. How long can I keep going? I'm all alone now. Don't get me_

_wrong, not that I ever needed anybody. I got to where I was all by myself, no help what so ever. Friends are useless they only exist for those who can't do things for themselves. *Sigh* all that's_

_left is for me to take what I desire most. Lightning, I'm coming for you, I'm coming to take you home with me whether you like it or not even if I have to tie you up, and gag you again._

"Lieutenant Colonel Nabaat!" A PSICOM officer saluted the woman who was walking strangely towards the airship she had called to pick her up. Jihl kept walking without acknowledging

the man who had greeted her, she discreetly drew the sub machine gun from her holster located on the small of her back and shot the man down, he fell lifelessly only making a small thud

as he collapsed to the ground. Jihl stepped onto the airship, and it took off minutes later.

* * *

The battle for Lightning, and Cloud against Kione was going to horridly, he was too fast for Cloud to strike with such a large sword however Lightning was fast enough to hit him but most

of the time he was able to block her attacks with the addition to a connecting one every now, and then.

"Dammit!" Lightning cursed as the corpse blocked another one of her attacks which was parried, and countered with Kione landing his fist into the left side of the young woman's ribs.

Cloud jumped into the action ambushing Kione from behind slashing at his back which caused him to screech in pain, Lightning recovered from the attack that was landed on her, and

slashed the beast across his chest. Just as it looked as though the brother, and sister were about to be victorious Kione jumped high into the air flipping back, and landing several feet

away from the duo. "I'm just getting started." He told them grinning as he lunged back at them striking viciously as Lightning struggled to block each attack for he was too strong.

One last hit sent the strawberry blond back into the wall directly behind her temporarily taking her out of the fight, as it was now a one-on-one between Cloud, and the sadistic being.

Blocking each of the corpse's attacks with his large buster sword that nothing could get by, finally Cloud had enough of blocking, and decided to take a crack at the corpse finally connecting

with his side knocking the beast to the floor. Lightning jumped back into the battle firing rounds off at the sadistic being all of them connecting with his head causing him to yell out frustrated

with the beating he was now receiving. The two siblings then charged toward the 'Cie corpse poised to finish him off, however once they were in range Kione used the same technique

that the crystal corpse had used on Lightning, and self exploded sending the two siblings back into the wall with their heads cracking against it's rocky surface. Falling to the ground with

a light thud, Lightning looked up at the beast as he slowly slithered towards her with that same maniacle grin on it's face.

* * *

"Where's Lightning?" Jihl asked still looking down at the floor, the current position of the woman scared Fang for she had never seen her act this way.

"I don't know. What do you want with her?" Fang asked pulling her spear-Blade Lance-from her back, and getting into a defensive stance.

"Obviously I want to take her home with me, even if I do have to gag her, and bag her." Jihl replied still eyeballing the floor.

"Hmmph I know you'd like to do that, but I'm not going to let you." Fang said bringing her spear into an offensive position.

"Oh please as if you could stop me, Fang." Jihl said confidently stepping away from the wall, raising her head, and smirking at the woman. A second later both women jumped forward at the

time colliding with such force that both Jihl, and Fang flew back into opposite walls, Fang's instant reaction was to cringe at what Lightning's reaction would be over the damage done to her

walls. Climbing to her feet Fang looked over at Jihl. "Why are you doing this?" She asked the woman wondering why she had gone crazy.

"I'm a l'Cie now. There's nothing left for me in this world." Jihl snarled icily at the tan Oerba.

"Your a l'Cie?" Fang questioned before Jihl jumped back at her, which Fang was lucky enough to get her spear up in time to block the attack. Jihl jumped back again, and swung her sword

at Fang that sent out a yellow energy blast that the other woman was able to jump over, and out of harms reach. While in the air from her jump, Fang twirled her spear a couple times in

her hand before coming back down, and performing her patented Highwind attack that connected with Jihl sending the blond woman through the wall, and into the next room over where

Fang had slapped Cid. Fang quickly pursued Jihl jumping over furniture to get to the room Jihl had been sent through, entering said room Fang looked around to see that Jihl was not in

the room. Frowning Fang turned around to be met with one of Jihl's high heels to the face, flying back wards Fang collided into a table, and chairs. Jihl followed up her attack by jumping

on top of Fang, and using her sword to try, and choke her by pushing down on the fluffy haired woman's throat. Struggling a bit Fang was able to flip Jihl over her head throwing her through

the window that was located over her head. Fang squeezed her eyes shut as bits of glass fell down onto her body, the woman quickly rolled over, and jumped to her feet looking out the

she couldn't see Jihl anywhere.

* * *

Kione now stood directly over Lightning looking down at the young woman with that sadistic grin of his still on his horrid face. Sliding his tail around her snaked it around Lightning's waist,

and pulled her up to his face with her arms pinned to her sides, her weapon well out of reach. Lightning squealed, and pulled her face away as Kione licked the length of it with his disgusting

tongue. "You bastard!" Lightning yelled wanting nothing more than to wipe her face dry of the creature's saliva. Desperately looking around Lightning saw that Cloud was now climbing to his

feet, he looked over to see the corpse holding Lightning around the waist, and wasted no time in freeing her by slashing the corpse across the face giving it a new scar to accompany the

many others. The corpse dropped Lightning to the ground, and she rolled to the side picking up her Blaze Edge, and jumping to her feet ready for another round.

"Your two sure are resilient." Kione laughed looking up at the roof of the cavern.

"Shut up!" Lightning snarled jumping towards the corpse, and landing several strikes all over his body, Cloud joined into the battle by using his hard hitting attacks to keep the creature

off balance. The two siblings continued to fight the corpse but it lived up to it's name for it truly was a corpse.

"Ha ha ha! you two are something else." Kione laughed as Lightning, and Cloud retreated a few feet back to safety. "I am a corpse you can't kill what's already dead!" He laughed.

"But you aren't." Cloud countered.

"But my soul is." Kione said icily while glaring at the young adults before him.

"Your like a cockroach." Lightning stated crossing her arms over her chest with her Blaze Edge still safely in her right hand.

"What do you mean?" Kione spat-literally across the cavern floor the sticky substance landing a few feet in front of Lightning.

"That's gross." She said her face taking on a look of disgust at the corpse's actions. "You call us resilient when you were able to retain your sentience as a 'Cie corpse, your a cockroache."

"Shut up! I've had enough of you little girl." Kione snarled bringing his claws up into an offensive stance, Lightning responded by bringing her sword up to her chest in a defensive stance.

* * *

Fang continued to look out the window confused as to where Jihl could have gone _she doesn't seem like the type to turn tail, and run _the dark haired woman thought. "Ah!" Fang cried

out in pain as Jihl buried her sword deep into the unsuspecting woman's shoulder. Fang fell to her knees, and turned around to see Jihl standing there before her with a smirk on her

face as she saw the blood dripping from the wound she had just inflicted. Fang spat the gathering blood from her mouth, and stared up at the woman while sitting with her back against

the wall. Feeling weak Fang dropped her head to stare at the floor, Jihl smiled as she lifted Fang's chin using her sword to do so. Fang stared at Jihl with half closed eyes expecting her

to push the blade into her throat at any second. But instead Jihl just smirked, and pulled her sword back allowing Fang's head to fall again.

"W-why?" The injured woman asked looking back up at the former PSICOM lieutenant colonel. Jihl didn't respond but merely walked out of the house without a glance back. Seeing one of

their enemies leave the house Serah, and Amodar rushed into the house, and quickly found Fang sitting against the wall. Crying her name Serah rushed forward to check on the older

woman. "Oh no, she's almost dead." Serah spoke her voice shaky "Hold on I think Lightning has a elixir laying around here somewhere." Serah said running off in search of the item.

A minute later Serah returned with the elixir in hand, she quickly ran over, and fed it to Fang who drank it down with some difficulty it took a couple seconds but the effects kicked in, and

Fang felt completely revived. "Thanks Serah." The accented woman smiled at the young girl.

* * *

Kione lunged forward, and swiped at Lightning who blocked the attack with ease. Cloud tried to jump in, and smash the beast over the head but it brought up it's other claw and landed

a attack on Cloud knocking him back. Still trying to hit Lightning the creature became increasingly irate as the young woman was able to block all of his attacks. Waiting for the perfect

opportunity the entire time she was on the defensive Lightning parried Kione's next blow as she connected with his left shoulder blade. Ignoring the burning pain that the sword brought

him Kione wrapped his tail around Lightning's legs, and threw her into Cloud who was charging at the failed l'Cie. The two tumbled on the ground groaning from the impact, the two siblings

climbed to their feet, and faced their opponent. "Well well kiddies are we ready to give in yet?" The seemingly unbeatable foe mocked both of his opponents young ages as they readied

their weapons as an answer. "Alright then." He laughed charging forward attacking both of his enemies simultaneously with one claw on each opponent. Lightning, and Cloud could only

block as their opponent slowly backed them into the corner. With a foot between them, and the wall Lightning took a risk, and front flipped over Kione landing behind him but not before

he left a pretty deep cut across the right side of her ribs. Lightning ignored the pain, and took advantage of the two-on-one by stabbing her sword deep into Kione's back, and changing

it into gun mode making the wound expand from the swords transformation. Kione screamed in pain as Lightning switched the gun back into sword mode, and continued to dig it deeper

into the thing's back causing more blood to gush onto her already red vest. Finally Kione summoned the last deposits of his energy, and strength, and punched the wall of the chamber

with all of his strength which caused the entire cavern to shake. Lightning's eyes widened as the chamber began to collapse, herself and Cloud quickly ran for the exit ignoring Kione

who stood confidently laughing at their retreating forms. "I will not be defeated so easily. You have not seen the last of me." He called out as Cloud, and Lightning exited the chamber

just as the roof caved in upon the 'Cie corpse.

* * *

_RING! RING! RING!_

"Hello?" Serah asked upon answering her cell phone her, Fang, and Amodar were sitting in the living room assessing the damage that was done to the house from the fight between

Fang, and Jihl. "Serah?" It was Lightning who was on the other end of the conversation.

"Yeah sis?" Serah asked wondering why Lightning would be calling her.

"Is Amodar there?" Lightning asked her little sister.

"Yeah." Serah responded "So your alright then?"

"Yeah I'm fine could you tell Amodar that were ready to be picked up? at the same place." Lightning asked leaning against the tree from before.

"Sure." Serah then paused to tell Amodar what her sister had asked her to say to him. "Amodar Lightning's ready to be picked up."

"Alright tell the youngster were on our way." He said warmly his voice clearly showing the care he had for the young girl he had worked with for so long.

"Wait were?" Lightning asked wondering why her sister would want to come along for the ride.

"Yeah I want to come too." Serah told her crossing her right leg over the left.

"Uh...why?"

"Because I don't want to stay here with out you being here."

"Why what's wrong? what happened?" Lightning asked her voice showing slight traces of worry.

"Um well there was kind of an accident." Serah cringed dreading telling Lightning the damage that had been done to their home.

"What _kind _of accident?" Lightning asked probably tapping her foot impatiently on the other end Serah guessed giggling to herself-she knew her sister to well. "And why don't you want to

stay there?" Lightning asked again as she started to pace on the other end of the conversation, Serah could imagine Lightning's light blue eyes glazed over with worry.

"Um...well Jihl was here." Lightning's blood ran ice cold.


	15. Chapter 14: Jihl Your Days Are Numbered

Sisterly Love Chapter 14: Jihl Your Days Are Numbered

"J-Jihl was there?" Lightning asked her mind having some difficulty processing this new bit of information she had just received from Serah.

"Yeah." Serah replied loudly making Lightning bring her phone inches away from her ear "She fought Fang, and then disappeared."

"She fought Fang!?" Lightning yelled concerned for her friend's well being.

"Uh..I just said that sis." Serah said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Yeah I know that it's just a habit of asking just to make sure." Lightning said calming down "Can I talk to her?"

"Yeah sure." Serah said handing the phone to Fang "She wants to talk to you." Serah told her, Fang nodded in response as she grabbed the phone.

"Hey Light." Fang greeted leaning back in her seat, and crossing her left leg over her right.

"Fang! are you alright?" Lightning asked worried.

"Uh yeah, I'm talking to you aren't I?" Fang said making Lightning roll her eyes.

"Yeah, but I mean did Jihl hurt you?" The younger girl asked worry coating her voice.

"Well yeah of couse that bitch is crazy. But um we uh kinda...-"

"Kinda what Fang?" Lightning asked a small pit of worry growing in her stomach.

"Uh..we kinda fucked up your house a bit." Fang admitted wincing as she said the words awaiting Lightning's reaction.

"You what?" She asked quietly.

"Uh yeah we kinda...messed your house up a _little_." Fang said trying to calm the younger woman down.

"Well what happened?" Lightning questioned worried about the condition of her home.

"Well I sent her through a wall-" Fang started only to be cut off.

"YOU WHAT!?" Lightning yelled her eyes wide, and her mouth gaping open.

"Easy Lightning my ears are hurting."

"Yeah, and my house is hurting!" Lightning snapped back at her best friend, Fang sighed at the woman's relentless stubbornness.

"And I sent her through a window-"

"WHAT!? come on Fang that is my house, how could you do that?" Lightning asked now whimpering her words like a small child would.

"Um, and we dented two of your walls." Fang finished wincing at Lightning's reaction.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Lightning moaned burying her head in her hands "Your paying for all that." She whimpered after a while.

"I know." Fang sighed knowing that those words would come up sooner or later.

"Well tell Amodar to hurry up, I'll see you when you get here, and bring Serah with you." Lightning told her lifting her head from her hands.

"Kay see ya."

"Bye." Lightning hung up her phone, and dropped her head back into her hands.

"What's wrong." Cloud asked from her right, Lightning raised her head and looked up at her brother.

"Fang trashed my house." She told him thinking of what she should do to the woman when she saw her next.

"Oh, that sucks." He said as the awkward tension between the two rose another level.

"So, are you a l'Cie?" Lightning asked crossing her right leg over her left as she leaned against the large tree.

"No, are you?" Cloud asked looking at his little sister, she looked down in response.

"Yeah. Me, your other sister-Serah, Snow you haven't met him, Fang, Sazh, and I don't know how but Hope is too, and finally Vanille is-you don't know her either." Lightning answered.

"Hmm, I'm sorry." Cloud said not knowing how to respond to or comfort someone who is pretty much guaranteed death.

"Don't worry about it, we'll be fine. I'm gonna fix everything." Lightning said waving him off.

"Hmm good to know." The blond responded looking into Lightning's eyes seeing doubt, and fear in them but he chose not to comment on it.

"Say could you do me a favour?" Lightning asked looking up at the older man.

"Sure, what is it?" Cloud asked the younger girl.

"Um..there's this guy who keeps trying to go out with me, and it's becoming tiresome. I know that he won't stop as long as I try to stop him, but maybe if say you beat him up or something

he would stop." Lightning said with ever growing hope in her eyes.

"I could do that...for my little sister." Cloud smiled seeing Lightning's eyes shine "Are you my little sister?" He asked wanting to hear her say so.

"Yeah." She replied sheepishly as Amodar's airship touched down in the field before them. Standing up Cloud extended his hand for Lightning to take, which she gratefully did making him

extremely happy that she was finally starting to accept him as her big brother.

"Hey Amodar." The young woman of his thoughts greeted her friend as the two siblings entered the airship.

"Oh yeah I forgot to tell you." Fang started as soon as Lightning had entered the ship "Uh Snow, and Hope weren't at the house when we got back." The tan woman finished.

"I give those two idiots one job to do, and they can't even handle watching my little sister." Lightning groaned flopping down on the sofa beside Serah, and crossing her right leg over her

left. "No kidding. Their two of the stupidest people I know." Fang laughed at her own joke.

"God they are so stupid." Lightning agreed with her friend "How did you get out of their sights anyway?" she asked her little sister.

"Um I went for a walk." Serah shrugged looking up at Lightning "Hey Cloud!" The small girl waved at the spiky haired man.

"Hi." He greeted back from across the room.

"Did you two bond?" Serah asked both Lightning, and Cloud.

"Yeah, about how much we hate you." Lightning teased ruffling Serah's hair.

"Har har your _very _funny." Serah fake laughed at her sister's joke.

"Oh come on you know I'm just playing around." Lightning said sighing loudly, Cloud sat grinning at how the two sisters interacted with one another _their really close _he thought leaning

against the wall. "Oh hey Lightning, Jihl's a l'Cie now." Fang told her which made the strawberry blond's eyes go wide.

"R-really?" She asked in response.

"Yeah she seemed pretty crazy too, like she's gone insane." Fang mused aloud.

"Fuck."

"Lightning watch your mouth." Amodar called over his shoulder from the steering controls.

"Sorry Sargeant Major." Lightning called back to the older man.

"Why are you so mad that she's a l'Cie Light?" Fang asked confused by her friend's reaction.

"Well she was pretty much untouchable before, but now..." Lightning trailed off worry evident on her face.

"Now what?" Fang asked wondering what the girl had to say.

"Don't worry about it." Lightning quickly waved her off _I'll be the one to handle her...alone._

_"_Oh come on." Fang begged the woman.

"Let's just say she won't be alone." Lightning replied cryptically.

"On the good side though that means that the Sanctum will be after her." Fang thought aloud staring at the ceiling of the airship.

"Yeah if there is a _good _side." Lightning muttered to herself. An hour later the airship was back in Bowdam, and the group had returned to the Farron home which looked like a mess.

"Oh my God." Lightning breathed her mouth hanging open at the sight of her beloved home.

"It's not that bad." Fang shrugged.

"Yeah, your going to clean this place up too." Lightning told her as they entered the living room.

"Fiiiiiiiinnnnneeeeee." Fang groaned following closely behind the strawberry blond. "Why don't you find Jihl, and make her clean some of this mess up also."

"Because I don't love Jihl like I do you." Lightning joked as they continued through the rest of the house.

"So where do you think the guys went?" Serah asked as they were still not to be found.

"Who knows with them." Lightning said shaking her head at the many stupid actions she remembered Hope, and Snow partaking in "Wait what's this?"

"Pizza sauce." Serah replied giggling.

"Serah, why is there pizza sauce on the floor?" Lightning asked looking her sister in the eye.

"Hope made a pizza." She replied smiling. "He's actually a good cook, it was really good!"

"I'm going to kill that boy. Every time he comes over he leaves without cleaning up the many messes he makes." Lightning muttered pinching the bridge of her nose.

_BOOM!_

"What the hell was that!?" Fang yelled over the noise.

* * *

"Oh my God oh my God oh my God." Vanille repeated those words over and over as her, Snow, Hope, and Sazh continued to run through the streets of Bowdam.

"Is she still behind us?" Hope asked as the three came to a stop in a hidden alleyway.

"She _never _was following us Hope, I just wanted to get as far away from her as possible!" Snow told him refering to their actions once Jihl had entered the house.

"Guys you just had to ask me to come over didn't you?" Sazh asked himself shrugging his shoulders.

"Would you rather be with your wife?" Vanille asked grinning at him.

"Uhhhhh...no."

"That's what I thought." The young girl smiled as she crept towards the entrance of the alley, looking out she turned, and gave the group a thumbs up as the street was clear of the blond

woman they hoped wasn't following them.

"You guys do know that we kinda just set a trap for Lightning to walk right into." Hope said worried for his second mother figure's safety.

"Don't worry she'll be fine." Snow said gesturing with his hands.

_BOOM!_

"What the hell was that!?" Sazh yelled.

* * *

Lightning, Cloud, Serah, Fang, and Amodar all ran out onto the empty street to see a mushroom cloud of smoke far off in the distance.

"There's only one person who could do that." Amodar said to the group.

"Yeah...Jihl." Lightning whispered as she started heading off in the direction of the explosion.

"Whoa hey Light, we'll just take my airship." Amodar called out to the woman's retreating back.

"No that's stupid PSICOM will be all over the place they'll shoot you down in an instant.

"Oh alright then." He said thinking over what she said, and concluding that it made sense. "We'll go on foot then."

"No. I want you to stay here with Serah while me, Fang, and Cloud go, and check this mess out." Lightning ordered nodding her head in the direction of the now rushing firetrucks, and

PSICOM. "Alright." The man said nodding his head as the other three headed off.

"Lightning!" Serah yelled causing the young woman to stop in her tracks "Be careful." She said sofly making Lightning's face, and eyes soften upon seeing her sister.

"I will." She whispered back before turning towards the carnage. After going down a few streets the group encountered a PSICOM checkpoint halting their progress.

"Damn the explosion is all the way across town." Cloud muttered as they hid in a alleyway.

"Hey you guys!" Vanille said cheerily making Lightning, Fang, and Cloud jump.

"Vanille will you shut up." Sazh said 'quiet yelling' while clapping his hand over the young girl's mouth. "What are you guys doing here?"

"What are you _guys_ doing _here?" _Fang asked the same question.

"Fang don't repeat me." Sazh said flatly still holding Vanille.

"I'm not. I'm simply asking the question on my mind which so happens to be the same." Fang said raising her chin up somewhat proud of her response.

"Um we were running from Jihl." Hope said kicking a nearby stone.

"We _weren't _running from Jihl because she _wasn't _chasing us." Snow told the boy for the second time.

"Whatever you pansies let's go." Lightning told them peeking around the corner.

"Yeah let's." Vanille piped up as Sazh released her, Hope, and Snow both groaned as they all turned the corner. Lightning led the group along as they hid behind a nearby dumpster.

"Okay there's too much of us let's split up." She began "I'll go with Cloud. Vanille you'll go with Sazh. Fang you go with Snow. And Hope...just go home." She finished in an exasperating tone.

"What no!?" He objected.

"You have a boomerang as a weapon! what's that gonna do?" Lightning asked the silver haired one making him take on an expression of thought.

"Okay I don't know! but I still wanna help you!" He said trying to convince the strawberry blond.

"Fine, you'll come with us." She caved in motioning between herself, and Cloud.

"Thanks miss Lightning." He said brightly causing Lightning to blush. Turning back to the road "Okay let's go."

* * *

"Your all just ants!" Jihl laughed as she filled another PSICOM soldier with lead. The man dropped with a thud as another wave of elites stepped forward trying to best their former

lieutenant colonel. The first stepped forward, and dropped a second later as Jihl cut his body clean in half with one of the energy blasts she sent from her sword into the man's gut.

Charging up that same attack just with more power, Jihl unleashed her fury upon the mere foot soldiers compared to her cutting them all down with a single strike. Just as the next

wave stepped up to be slaughtered next Jihl charged up a firaga spell, and casted it upon the group that had amassed in front of her, they all dropped dead instantly.

* * *

"Dammit." Yaag cursed into his headset as he witnessed yet another wave of his soldiers fall before the woman. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of pink-no strawberry

blond. Turning around Yaag saw that it was Lightning's hair. "Lightning what the hell are you doing here?" He asked the beautiful young woman before him.

"Uh..can't you see what's happening? you think I would sit around, and let my hometown fall to the ground by the hands of that crazy bitch." Lightning asked the silver-blue haired man.

"No, but look PSICOM is everywhere. Get out before your spotted, and captured." Yaag said pushing the young woman away from all the fighting.

"I don't think so Yaag, and why are you ignoring your duties, and not detaining me?" She asked raising an eyebrow her face taking on a questioning look.

"Because your my friend, now go!" He urged his hands still on her shoulders.

"Please Yaag." Was all Lightning said her eyes silently begging him to let her join in on the fighting. The look in her eyes reminded him of the time back in his office how Lightning had begged

him to take the collar off. "Fine." He sighed.

* * *

"Oh crap!" Snow yelled as a bunch of PSICOM soldiers had noticed his big frame trying to sneak through their checkpoint.

"Dammit Snow!" Fang cursed as she drew her Blade Lance, and took an defensive position. Forming a circle around the two l'Cie the PSICOM elites that patrolled the streets everywhere

seemed to have the advantage. The first soldier charged at Fang drawing a short sword, and swiping it at her. Fang parried this blow knocking the man's sword to the ground, and

following it up with the butt end of her spear smashing into the man's jaw. Snow also started fighting off the pack of soldiers by pounding on them with his fists effectively keeping them

at bay. Another soldier jumped at Fang but she spun off to the side making the man miss and slide across the pavement, he quickly climbed to his feet and turned to take another run at

the tan woman. It appeared that this guy was not so smart as he lunged toward her again even more sloppy than before so Fang moved off to the side anticipating where he would land

and quickly brought her knee up smashing it into the man's private area making him fall to the ground in extreme agony as the momentum of his fall combined with the force of Fang

bringing her knee up created a wave of nauseating pain for the man. On Snow's side of the circle another soldier jumped towards the big man only to be met with a powerful uppercut

to the face as Snow knocked the man onto his behind he followed this up by casting a blizzaga spell that connected with the man knocking him out cold.

The next guy who charged at Fang met a quick end when he was quickly decapitated by the young woman Fang smirked as he dropped to the ground. Just as all the soldiers were

another wave had circled the two l'Cie before they had time to celebrate their victory. Fang cursed as Snow took out his Shiva gem and summoned the twin eidolons who-with a quick

command from Snow-transformed into their gestalt form which was a motorcycle. Quickly both Snow, and Fang jumped onto the ice sisters and started to attack the group of PSICOM

soldiers. Snow casted several blizzard spells as Fang took swipes at the enemies with her spear and the Shiva sisters ran into the soldiers and performed donuts to harm the enemy.

It took very little time before the wanted people came out on top easily defeating the PSICOM soldiers with barely a scratch on them. Suddenly the wind started billowing overhead

looking up the two l'Cie saw what the cause of the disturbance was.

* * *

"Whoa man look Ryg! some thing's up down there." Cid sat up from his chair as he moved the Lindblum to the ground so he could land it.

"Yeah what the hell man." Rygdea said looking over the several flaming buildings with smoke rising off of them.

"Dude I wonder what's causing all that destruction?" Cid mused aloud as he landed the Lindblum on the wide street below. opening the door the two men jumped out to see a group

of dead PSICOM soldiers surround a triumphant looking Fang, and a relieved looking Snow.

"Well looks like you have things covered here." Cid called out jollily strutting over to the two l'Cie.

"Get out of here Cid no one wants you here." Fang told him while turning her back to him.

"So what's going on?" Rygdea asked still having no idea what was causing the commotion.

"We don't know but we think it's Jihl." Snow said turning to face the men "She is a l'Cie now you know."

"Really!?" The men said in unison "Well I guess I'll have to do something about it." Cid spoke as he climbed back into the Lindblum. Just then Cid spotted Lightning, Hope, and Cloud off

in the distance. "Ryg go get the flowers." Cid called back to his friend while still looking at the strawberry blond quite aways from him. A short while later Rygdea reappeared with the

flowers Cid had purchased, grabbing them quickly Cid took off running all the while calling Lightning's name.

* * *

Things were going great for Sazh, and Vanille so far as they were able to keep out of sight of all patrolling PSICOM soldiers.

"Wow were good at this." Vanille smiled but shortly dropped it as two soldiers located them, and wasted no time in getting over to their location. Vanille quickly dropped back behind Sazh

and started to cast elemental magic on the pair of enemies. Sazh drew his pistols, and opened fire among the soldiers, who responded by firing off their own weapons at the two. In a

matter of seconds the two enemies were on the ground dead as Vanille, and Sazh easily handled them and moved on. Not more than a few minutes kater the two l'Cie ran into more

resistance as more PSICOM soldiers jumped toward the two ready to combat them. Sazh groaned as he drew his pistols once more and Vanille drew her bind rod. Quickly flinging the many

wires out towards one of the soldier the spikes buried themselves into his body and held him to the spot as Sazh filled him full of lead, for the next enemy Vanille casted a death spell on the

man killing him instantly. Smiling form their success Sazh and Vanille moved forward.

* * *

Quickly "Thanks Yaag." Lightning grinned as she gained Yaag's approval to join in the combat.

"Lightning!" said girl turned to face the man "the PSICOM will still try to kill you so you know." Yaag informed her to which Lightning nodded.

"I know." The strawberry blond told him turning back to her comrades.

"Hey Light what'd he say?" Cloud asked his little sister.

"He said to go ahead but they'll still try to kill us." Lightning told the two watching Hope intently looking for any sign of fear in the boy so she could sen him home. "You alright?" the young

woman asked the boy with concern in her eyes. "Uh yeah." Hope replied uncertainly to the question.

"Listen Hope." Lightning started softly sounding very motherly "I don't want you to get hurt, go home." She whispered softly kneeling before the boy so she was at eye level with him.

"No Lightning. I don't want you to get hurt, I'm coming with you." The mature boy replied looking the young woman in her clear light blue eyes.

"No Hope. If something happened to you...I couldn't do that to your mother." Lightning said sincerely dropping her head to stare at the ground.

"Pleeaaaaase Lightning." Hope whined for some reason hell bent on killing some people to help his friend.

"F-" Lightning bit her lip lightly in hesitation "fine Hope, just don't try anything out of your league." she told him forcing a smile.

"Got it, I won't try anything that you do!" Hope complimented her making Lightning blush at his comment.

"Alright let's go." Cloud said as they turned to face the dieing across town. Several non-stop explosions could be seen from the far distance that the group was at.

Just then Lightning heard her name being called over, and over again from a distance. Turning around she saw that it was that moron Cid who was running towards her.

"What do you want?" She asked tapping her foot as Cid came to a stop before her with one arm behind his back.

"I got you something." He replied grinning at what he thought would be a happy reaction from the strawberry blond.

"Why?" Lightning asked annoyed by her wannabe rapist and kidnapper's presence.

"Because I'm sorry for what I did, or tried to do." Cid replied still grinning from ear to ear.

"Look Cid you may not have noticed but this is not the best time for gifts." Lightning said motioning around her with her arms at all the chaos that was happening.

"Yeah, but I love you and-"

"Come on Cid will you just leave me alone?" Lightning asked exasperated from his constant pushing.

"Just let me give you your present." He begged making the younger girl laugh at him somewhat.

"Fine, but make it quick." She snapped anxiously looking around for PSICOM soldiers. Smiling widely Cid moved his arm from his back revealing the flowers he had got for Lightning.

"So what do you think?" He asked, Lightning just stared at him her mouth gaping open as she stared down at the delicate flowers Cid held.

"Are you kidding me?" She asked her eyes widening.

"Uh...no." Cid said shrugging. Lightning then quickly and with extreme power brought her right leg up and kicked Cid cleanly in the balls, he quickly fell to the ground groaning in pain.

"Cloud this is that guy I told you about. Can you deal with him now?" Lightning asked sweetly as Cloud nodded in response.

* * *

"Hey what's this?" Serah muttered to herself as she fished around the basement of her, and Lightning's home trying to occupy herself with something that wouldn't result in her getting

an ulcer. "What is it Serah?" Amodar called from atop the stairs where he watched the young girl snoop around the basement.

"Uh..why do you insist on watching me?" She called over her shoulder to the older man as she pulled out an old looking box.

"Because I don't want you sneaking out to go, and help your sister." The warm hearted man told her as he went down the stairs, and came to a stop just behind the girl.

"Oh I wouldn't do that. Lightning would have both our heads."Serah smiled as she held out the box for him to see.

"What's that?"

"I don't know. I just found it. It seems pretty old." The strawberry blond girl observed blowing the collected dust off of the once white now brown colored box.

"Hmm that's the crest on the front of the box is that of the Bowdam security regiment albeit a bit old but still the same." Amodar said thoughtfully rubbing his chin.

"Whoa is this-"

"Yeah." Amodar confirmed.

* * *

Cloud had given Cid quite the beating, so he left them alone and went off to do something that was unknown to the group.

"Thanks so much Cloud. God he is always pestering me." Lightning said as she uncharacteristically gave Cloud a hug as her thanks for him getting rid of Cid.

"Yeah well, I don't like it when guys annoy my little sister." Cloud smiled as Lightning did the same for what was probably the first time she had done without Serah around.

"Well then you won't be liking many guys." Hope muttered with his hands in his pockets.

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked frowning at the boy's terrible posture.

"Almost every guy annoys Lightning." He replied innocently gazing around the destruction.

"Yeah well it's only because all guys are really dumb." Lightning said as if to argue her case "Take Hope for example...really dumb."

"Hey!" The silver haired boy objected but was thoroughly ignored.

"So how exactly is all this destruction happening if Jihl's only one person?" Cloud asked gazing at the tall building in the distance.

"Um...maybe she has some help." Lightning pitched the idea as a tall shadow approached the three at a fast pace.

"What a fun day this has been." Lightning shrugged before jumping off to the side to avoid an attack that their enemy had sent their way. Lightning quickly looked around to see that

Hope, Cloud, and herself had all been able to successfully dodge the attack, looking back to the north the strawberry blond saw a 'Cie corpse coming their way for another strike.

Cursing all three of them dodged the attack but this time Lightning casted a thundaga attack to slow him down, and into a fighting position instead of the corpse controlling the fight.

Hope started the battle off by throwing his boomerang at the corpse's head which connected with precision, Cloud followed this up by taking a whack at the distracted corpse's exposed

ribs making a bone crunching sound. Lightning took her first turn by first slashing the monster's right side then spinning off to attack it's back, and then again to it's right side.

The corpse screamed out in pain before taking a wild swing in front of itself forcing it's three opponents to retreat back into a safe distance, Lightning switched her sword into gun mode

and started firing into it's only human area left-it's face with all bullets being direct hits the corpse became somewhat weakened as Hope started to throw his boomerang off the side of

the beast's head however the attack being more of a nuisance than dealing physical damage. Cloud kept a safe distance as his two companions did the fighting with their long range

attacks, without having the ability of the l'Cie there was nothing the spiky haired blond could do but watch his little sister, and the boy do the fighting. After a minute or so Lightning

ran out of ammo, and switched her gun into sword mode as she rushed up to the corpse, and landed a uppercut swing of her sword to the failed l'Cie's head. The thing responded with

a swift swing of it's clawed arm knocking the young woman to the vacant street below. Landing with a thud Lightning looked up to the corpse hovering above her about to cleave her

head in two, but before that could be done Cloud swooped in with his ridiculously large sword, and blocked the attack giving Lightning enough time to roll out of the way of the monster's

attack. Cloud pushed up with his sword forcing the 'Cie corpse back flipping over itself he followed this up by jumping up into the air above the creature before coming back down with

his sword extended out in front of him shining with a blue color. The attack landed flawlessly cutting up the beast as it struggled into a standing position just as Lightning rushed forward

quickly slashing the thing up several times with her sword causing blood to gush from the inflicted wounds. Flipping backwards Lightning switched her sword into the gun mode, and fired

at the beast until she gracefully stuck her landing five feet away, Cloud continued to hack at the monster as Hope started to throw his boomerang. The 'Cie corpse swung it's claw at

Cloud, and connected sending the man back into his little sister, Lightning turned from checking up on Hope to see the dark clothed man flying towards her with no time to avoid the two

siblings connected sliding ten feet across the tarmac, and coming to a stop before Hope. The teenager looked from the 'Cie corpse to Lightning, and Cloud and back to the 'Cie corpse

as it got closer and closer. Panicked Hope took off running away from the scary beast as Lightning, and Cloud lay groaning in pain on the ground. Hovering above the two siblings the

corpse drove it's fist into Lightning's stomach temporarily knocking the young woman unconscious. Cloud however regained his bearings and brought his sword up to block the next

attack which was aimed for him. His sword, and the corpse's claw grinded against each other causing sparks to fly as the friction being produced grew hotter, and hotter finally Cloud

was able to shift his weight, and flip his opponent over his head jumping to his feet right after. The corpse also recovered quickly and was already on it's 'feet' waiting for his spiky

haired opponent to do the same. The two charged at each other for another test of strength but Cloud made sure to draw the corpse away from his unconscious little sister as Lightning

lay a few feet away. On his own two feet Cloud found the test of strength rather easy this time around easily pushing the corpse back to the ground, he followed this up by raising his

large sword over his head, and bringing it down with all his strength crushing the 'Cie corpse. A few dying twitches from the monster signaled it's death as now it lay motionless on the

street. Walking over to the unconscious Lightning Cloud knelt down beside her and put his hand to her forehead stroking her bangs affectionately until the young woman's eyes fluttered

open. "C-Cloud?" She asked groggily her light blue eyes gazing up into Cloud's own, groaning Lightning rolled onto her right side, and propped herself up on her elbows.

"Where's Hope?" She asked after a few moments of silence and gazing around the empty street with the sounds of explosions overhead ringing in their ears.

"Don't know, he ran off during the fight." Cloud answered recalling which direction the boy had run off in.

"Oh he'll come back." Lightning stated just as Cloud began to walk after the silver haired male. The two siblings waited another ten minutes with Lightning sitting on the ground leaning

against a tree, and Cloud standing beside her finally Hope turned the corner and headed towards the two with his head down in shame.

"Hope go home." Lightning spoke not looking at him once he was at her side.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly as he observed Lightning holding her right hand up to her face.

"Yeah, I just got knocked out for a little bit." She responded turning to face him.

"Okay good." Hope whispered taking a seat beside the beautiful young woman.

"Hope please just go home." Lightning said again with worry quite evidently in her eyes.

"No I want to help you." Hope said grabbing the strawberry blond beauty's hand.

"How? by running away during a fight? Hope that's not helping, that's a burden on me." Lightning said quietly looking the boy in the eyes.

"Come on I promise I'll stay and fight!" Hope said brightly making Lightning drop her gaze.

"....Fine Hope, but if you run again I'm taking you home right then and there." Lightning said sternly pointing a finger in his face.

"Don't worry it won't happen again!" Hope beamed excitedly.

"So it looks like Jihl got some help from the 'Cie corpses." Lightning said aloud not to any one imparticular. "I thought I've seen the last of them."

* * *

With another swipe of her sword another group of soldiers fell before the former lieutenant colonel, Jihl smirked as another stepped forward.

"Oh please must you try to be the hero?" Jihl mocked the lone soldier who was trembling quite noticeably.

"I am not trying anything. I'm only doing my job." He spoke his voice a shaky jumble of words.

"Then I think it's about time you got let go." Jihl laughed as the man charged toward her his silver short sword poised for attack, Jihl simply side stepped to the man's right, and brought

her cobalt blade down through his back, and spine. The loud crunching sound that his backbone made followed by blood squirting from the damage brought a smile to Jihl's face.

Hearing footsteps from behind Jihl turned confidently to see one of the few people who did out rank her, Cid Raines stood at full height looking down at the woman from where he stood.

"Well General, are you ready for me to take your life?" Jihl smirked as Cid pulled his Blaze Edge from where it rested around his waist.

"It was quite the climb up here Jihl." Cid said turning in a complete circle with his arms stretched out, he finally came to a stop facing Jihl while looking up at the heavens. "I intend to make

my stay a good one." He finished looking down at the long haired blond woman. The battle ground where the fight was about to take place was atop a large business building that was

taller than the lot around it, the fall was easily thirty stories if not more. "I'll make it quick, and painful." Jihl replied pulling her cobalt sword from it's sheath, however this time it had an

eerie blue glow to it. "What's up with your sword?" Cid asked taking a defensive position as Jihl took an offensive position at the same time.

"Hmm oh this it's just a little work of a certain something." Jihl replied not revealing what the source of the power was.

"Dammit Jihl! you always keep secrets no matter how small they are." Cid yelled across the rooftop to the younger woman.

"That's right, and you'll die not knowing the answer to this one." She smirked as she lunged forward making a quick swipe of her sword. The length of the attack was too short so Cid felt

like he had easily dodged it but then was surprised when a yellow blast emanated from the blade striking him in the chest with the shear impact from the blow sending the dark haired man

towards the edge of the building's roof. Climbing to his feet Cid looked up to see Jihl running towards him with a crazy look in her eyes, the higher ranked man jumped to his feet, and

brought his sword up to his chest in a defensive position. Jihl swung her sword wildly but effectively that Cid somehow managed to block with difficulty sidestepping the crazed woman

Cid brought down his own sword the metal cutting deep into her shoulder although her shoulder armor did a good job in deflecting the blow. Jihl seemed unaffected by the attack as she

spun away from him while throwing fire spells at him forcing Cid to take the defensive as he blocked both spells with ease effectively giving Jihl time to rush up and give him a smack to the

head with the hilt of her sword. Cid fell backwards once again as Jihl laughed at his pathetic attempts to combat her.

"Please Cid, you may outrank me but you'll never be as skilled, and talented as I am." She spoke confidently before giving the man a swift kick to the side. Groaning Cid climbed to his feet

to face the unstoppable woman. Bringing his sword to his chest Cid took his first offensive gamble of the fight, charging towards Jihl, and landing several slashes on her Jihl was able to

counter with a energy blast attack that sent Cid back quite aways. Switching his sword into gun mode Cid started to open fire on the woman who put up a protective barrier which forced

his bullets harmlessly to the ground just as they came into contact with the shield. Cid cursed as Jihl approached him for another round, standing up the Brigadier General looked around

him to see no way of avoiding Jihl's next attack, however a near by explosion jarred the blond woman from her advantage as she stumbled backwards as Cid took advantage and charged

towards Jihl landing several attacks on the woman with a power attack at the end which sent Jihl across the roof of the building landing only a few feet from the edge.

"My my I'm impressed Cid, you certainly have improved." Jihl smiled as she climbed to her feet dusting herself off before jumping unexpectedly towards her dark haired opponent knocking

the man back a few feet with a swipe of her sword. Cid held his side as his white clothing slowly turned a dark red as blood started to pool from his wound, Jihl smirked as she saw the

crimson color overtake the usual white of Cid's wardrobe. She lunged forward again but Cid sidestepped, and connected with her side forcing the woman to one knee as he then connected

with her back. Jihl fell to the ground and rolled onto her back to see Cid preparing the final blow, swiftly the blond woman brought her hand to her chest and then extended it out in front

of her casting firaga attack which sent Cid flying off of her. Jumping to her feet Jihl swung her sword crisply sending an energy blast out that hit Cid dead on while he was still in mud air

dealing massive damage to the man. Cid hit the ground hard, and rolled several feet before climbing to his feet once more breathing heavily looking up he saw Jihl walking towards him

with her eyes sparkling with happiness. "So Cid. Have you given up yet?" The busty woman asked as she came to a stop about four feet away from her opponent.

"Like I ever would!" Cid snapped back holding his injured side.

"Tell me. Why are you doing this?" Jihl asked frowning at the man's relentless behaviour.

"You hurt Lightning several times. I don't want her to get hurt anymore, so I have to kill you to do so." Cid explained smiling fondly at the thought of the beautiful strawberry blond he wished

to protect. "Well Cid you can't stop the inevitable." Jihl replied sending another energy blast at the man knocking him clean off the roof of the building. Walking slowly to the edge of the roof

Jihl looked over only to find Cid no where to be seen. "The stubborn fool must have weighed more than he looked." Jihl mused as she headed to the staircase that led down into the building.

"Time to set up the welcoming party for my dear Lightning." The big chested woman laughed as she started down the stairs, outside of the building a strange mist had enveloped the top

half of the building.

* * *

"I wonder how it went for Cid, with giving Lightning those flowers." Snow mused out loud as Fang, and himself walked down the street.

"No kidding she probably punched him in the face or something like that." Fang replied giving Snow a play punch on the arm.

"Yeah she's a feisty one." Snow mused playing with his beanie.

"Hmm it seems like only certain guys have that special talent it takes to annoy the hell out of here." Fang laughed "And Snow, your one of them. Congratulations."

"Thanks. It's truly an honor." Snow said bowing down as if millions were applauding him. Fang, and Snow continued to laugh as they walked down the street until they saw two figures-

one dressed in a green jacket and khaki pants, and the other wearing a skimpy orange skirt along with a skimpy pink shirt.

"Heya." Vanille greeted as the two came to a stop in front of each other.

"Hey Vanille." Snow grinned at the optimistic girl.

"Hiya. So what are you two doing here." The red-head asked looking around the abandoned street.

"Uhhh I don't know exactly." Snow admitted scratching the back of his head "Lightning never told us where to go."

"Oh well we'll find our way." Sazh smiled optimistically.

* * *

Lightning, Cloud, and Hope had finally made their way to the building enshrouded by the strange black mist that had spawned from nowhere when suddenly Lightning stopped in her tracks

dropping her head to stare at the ground, her body not moving an inch.

"What's wrong Lightning?" Cloud asked putting a hand on her shoulder which strangely was not as warm as it usually was now her skin felt extremely cold.

"Get away from me Cloud." His little sister spoke coldly towards her brother, shrugging his hand from her shoulder.

"What no!" The blond haired man objected turning Lightning around to face him, he gasped when he saw her gaze was unmoving as if looking right through him without blinking.

"I said get away from me, and take Hope with you." She repeated just as coldly.

"What's wrong with you miss Lightning?" Hope asked frowning at the woman.

"Just get out of here!" She snarled in response.

"Hey-" Cloud started but was punched in the face when he put a hand on his sister, falling to the ground Cloud rolled a bit then held his face as he gazed up at his younger sibling.

"Whoa what was that!?" Hope asked as he rushed to the older man's side to see if he was okay.

"You two better get out of here before I do something I regret." Lightning's voice was now ice cold making Hope shiver in fear.

"Fine." Cloud said standing up. "But be ready to apologize when your done here." He finished leading Hope in the direction they had come, Lightning stood silently watching until the two

males were out of sight. Then she collapsed to one knee as her breath was taken from her by some strange entity _what the hell was that? why was I acting so strange and hostile towards_

_the people who care for me? _The strawberry blond asked herself as she brought her hands up to her eyes so she was staring at them in confusion. The sudden sound of shouting reached

her ears. Turning around Lightning saw that it was Serah who was running, and yelling to the woman coming to a stop in front of her sister Serah took a few minutes to catch her breath.

"Serah what the hell are you doing all the way down here?" Lightning yelled concerned for her sister's safety.

"I had to give this to you. I think it would be really important since your the only one of us who can actually remember him." Serah explained holding out an old brown dusty box.

"...Okay." Lightning said slowly taking the box from her sister's hands, still kneeling Lightning removed the lid and gasped at what she saw. Inside the box was a gunblade just like her

own with the same color scheme and everything the exact same. "Serah what is this?" Lightning asked frowning up at her sister.

"I found it in our basement, Amodar says it's a Blazefire Saber given only to the best soldiers. However it is much stronger than the Blaze Edge's of today therefore was taken out of

circulation by the new senate of the Holy Government several years ago....Lightning it was our father's." Serah said the final words softly as Lightning's face took on a sad expression.

"D-dad's?" Was all she was able to choke out.

"Yeah, and look." Serah replied softly pointing to an engravement on the side of the sword.

"Oh my God." Lightning whispered as she read the engravement- _White Flash-Call Upon My Name Live Life To The Fullest My Lovely Daughters And My Only Son. I Love You All._

Lightning stared down at the words in silence as tears began to well up in her eyes from the final message her father had left.

"There was a note in the box." Serah stated taking a folded piece of paper from her pocket, and placing it in Lightning's hands.

"What does it say?" Lightning asked as the tears began to flow from her eyes hitting the pavement leaving wet dots of pent up pain on the concrete.

"Go on, and read it." Serah responded gesturing with her hands to the note, Lightning hesitated for a few moments but eventually unfolded the paper.

_Dear Serenity,_

_If you are reading this I am dead, and your nosy little sister went snooping in the basement again and stumbled across this package. Inside this box is something that was very precious to me back_

_in my day-my prize possession if you will. But it's time for me to pass it down to you. I want you to have this Serenity think of me when you use it, I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you kids and I_

_hope you forgive me. Use this sword gunsword with caution it is very powerful. Take care of your sister for me, and always remember that I love you and am watching over you from the afterlife_

_I'm very proud of you, and love you all._

_Your loving Father._

_"_You okay Serenity?" Serah asked as Lightning was silent for several moments.

"Yeah I'm f-fine." She replied looking over the engravement once more "How is it possible that the engraving on his sword is pretty much the same as the one on mine?"

"You two both felt and believed in the same things." Serah replied giving her sister a hug.

"Hmm I guess your right." Lightning spoke her voice muffled from Serah's shirt "But he referred to this as a gunsword, I thought they were called gunblades?"

"They are, the new ones that is." Serah started "Amodar told me that the old more powerful ones were called gunswords and the new weaker ones we have nowadays are called gunblades."

"Oh, so this thing is pretty strong then huh." Lightning said wiping the tears from her eyes."This might be just the thing I need to take down Jihl."

"Yeah be careful with that thing." Serah said her voice filled with worry.

"Don't worry I still remember a move our father taught me a long time ago." Lightning explained running her had up and down the blade before switching it between gun and sword modes

to see it worked perfectly like it was brand new just as it looked. "Okay Serah take my old one for protection and go back home I'll be back later." Lightning told her younger sibling.

"Be careful it's just you and her. Yaag ordered all PSICOM forces out of the streets, he's going to let the two l'Cie fight it out so they don't have to do the dirty work. If Jihl dies their coming

after you, if you die their going after Jihl please promise me you'll be careful and win." Serah pleaded her hands folded together and against her chest.

"I promise Serah. Where are the others?" Lightning asked the small girl.

"Their back at our place, we'll be waiting for your safe return." Serah said giving Lightning another hug only this time tighter.

"Don't worry I'll be fine. I have dad watching over me guiding my every move."

"Yeah he's your guardian angel." Lightning smiled at Serah's words because in her mind she knew it was true. "It's only you and her remember." Serah said with a wave as she started back

for the house. "Were not alone." Lightning muttered under her breath as she watched her sister leave. Turning around to face the building Lightning gazed up to see the black mist that

surrounded the upper half of the building. _What could that be? _She thought as she took a few steps and entered the building. As soon as she entered the abandoned Sanctum facility Lightning

immediately noticed a change in the atmosphere, the air became more heavy and she got the feeling that someone was watching her. Walking to the elevator the strawberry blond stepped

inside and pressed the button for the top floor however the elevator unexpectedly stopped although Lightning had anticipated this. The doors slid open and the young woman stepped out

to find she was on an empty floor with nothing but the metallic floor and ceiling and a thick fog eerily covering the entire floor. Walking further into the room Lightning's footsteps echoed

throughout the floor as she made her way to the center of the room. Lightning quickly stopped as Jihl's laughter rang out into the room bouncing off of every wall making it impossible to

pinpoint her exact location. Growing tired of Jihl's mind games Lightning called out into the abandoned room.

"Come on Jihl I grow tired of this just come out and let's get this started." Lightning said boredly turning slowly in a circle in case the crazed woman unexpectedly came at her with a sneek

attack. "Oh my dear Lightning are you not having fun?" Jihl mocked as a shadow appeared twenty feet in front of the young strawberry blond.

"No I'm not." Lightning replied pulling her newly acquired Blazefire Saber from it's holster.

"Well you'll just have to wait a little while longer, I want to test you first." Jihl spoke from her position. Just as the blond woman finished her sentence the dark shadow stepped forth.

"What...the...hell...is....that?" Lightning asked as she stared at the figure confused as to exactly what is was and the keen resemblance it shared with....herself.

"That is of course..you my dear beautiful young Lightning." Jihl said motherly.

"What?" Lightning asked as she took in the thing's appearance- it was an exact replica of herself but with a few quite noticeable differences such as instead of strawberry blond hair the thing

had pitch black hair, and it's eyes are not light blue but just plain white with no irises, and it's skin was a deathly white color that no human being could achieve no matter how long they

stayed indoors, it also wore the exact same clothes as Lightning. "This thing is your complete double it knows what move your going to make and when it also knows your next two to three

steps before you even process them into your mind." Jihl said proudly from her unknown position, Lightning however was unfazed by this as she saw one flaw in the monster that she could

take advantage of. "It's too bad you spent so much time making this thing when it's not even up to par with my own skills." Lightning mocked the woman making Jihl's constant laughing

abruptly stop. The thing's lips were also pitch black in color making Lightning shiver at the deathly aura it emanated.

"What are you talking about Lightning? it even knows your scene drive!" Jihl shouted her voice echoing around the two 'twins'.

"Too bad that's not my signature move." Lightning muttered under her breath as she smirked at Jihl's reaction.

"What do you mean 'not your signature move?'" Jihl asked somehow hearing what the young woman had said this still did not affect Lightning.

"My signature move is not something you have seen before or even something that I have ever performed in battle." Lightning admitted looking out the glass wall to her right to see that the

sun was setting and the orange glare was now on the wall shining onto the floor. "Then how come your so confident?" Jihl shot back no doubt frowning.

"Because a certain someone taught me how to perform it a long time ago." Lightning smiled fondly at the memory.

"Who taught you it?" Jihl was awfully nosy on this day.

"My father." Lightning smiled as she felt his aura wrap itself around her making her feel warm inside knowing that he was beside her.

"Oh really." Jihl said as if she were interested

"Yeah, and his gift is what will give me the ability to beat your little play thing over here." Lightning said motioning toward the clone of herself.

"What's his gift? like it matters. You see Lightning I personally equipped your doppelganger there with the artificial magic that I used earlier, but that's not all my dear I also went through all

the trouble of equipping it with it's very own Blaze Edge." Jihl finished with glee in her voice as she figured that would be what would defeat the strawberry blond l'Cie.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through such trouble. If you would of asked nicely I would have given 'her' my own to use." Lightning said sarcasm dripping in her voice.

"And why is that?"

"Because I have this." Lightning replied pulling her Blazefire Saber from it's holster around her bottom.

"So what's o special about that? it's just another Blaze Edge." Jihl said angry for no apparent reason.

"This is a Blazefire Saber." Was all Lightning had to say for Jihl to understand.

"Surely you just." Was Jihl's smug response although there was obvious fear in her voice.

"Just I do not." Lightning replied grinning that she had gotten the woman some what frightened.

"Where did you get that?" Jihl snapped even more angry than before.

"My father *sigh* I grow tired of idle chit chat let's get this started." Lightning said pulling her father's old Blazefire Saber and now her own to her chest as she took a defensive position.

* * *

**Ugh sorry for the late update, I got hurt and couldn't be on the computer for a while:P and if the wording is a little strange at some parts it was probably the pain meds I had to take**

**well until next time see ya:P And I'm aware that it's actually Bodhum and not Bowdam so I'll call start calling it that from here on in.**


	16. Chapter 15: The End Of A Rival

**This chapter is dedicated to my good friend Sheldon Yeung**

Sisterly Love Chapter 15: The End Of A Rival

Lightning's doppelganger flew at her with blinding speeds, however the strawberry blond was able to block the attack easily with her newly acquired Blazefire Saber turning the clone off in

another direction using the momentum to send it into the nearby wall. Dust fell from the ceiling as the doppelganger shook the foundation of the building from it's missed attack _don't want _

_that to be me _Lightning thought as she watched her clone recover preparing for it's next attack. Lightning brought her sword back up to her chest and switched it into gun mode, the weapon

made the transition flawlessly just as the clone made another attack run towards her. Deflecting the thing once more Lightning fired at it's defenseless back sending it back into the wall with

more force than the first time, but this time the young woman wasted no time in waiting around for her clone to recover as she dashed right in after it switching her gun into sword mode

blindly swinging as she was blinded by the falling dust. Lightning's sword arm recoiled as she struck something that she soon found to be the doppelganger's body, receiving a kick to the

stomach she flew backwards and slid across the floor back flipping and landing on her feet Lightning looked up to see the deathly figure already in her face landing a hard punch to her

stomach knocking her to the ground. Lightning coughed uncontrollably as she struggled into a kneeling a position before her clone who stared down at her coldly, Lightning quickly brought

her left leg around quickly and brought the clone's feet out from under 'her' knocking the thing to the ground. Lightning went to stab her sword through it's chest but the thing quickly rolled

to the side avoiding the attack and kicked Lightning in the side of her head as she struggled to get her sword out of the marble floor. Lightning fell to the ground her entire world and vision

was dizzy as her world spun as she struggled to climb to her feet but fell back to the ground as her arms could not support herself. The pale clone stood over the now helpless girl as Lightning

tried to keep from passing out _holy shit that thing has a strong kick! _she thought as she looked up into the clone's white eyes, quickly Lightning switched her Blazefire Saber into gun mode and

fired multiple rounds into her doppelganger's chest forcing Jihl's creation off of her. Taking this opportunity Lightning jumped to her feet and landed her own kick to the thing's head knocking

it to the floor, switching her gun to sword mode Lightning was about to move forward but hesitated _this thing is your complete double it knows what move your going to make and when. It also_

_knows your next two to three steps before you even process them into your mind. _Jihl's voice rang out in Lightning's head as she remembered the woman's words clearly as she viewed the

clone carefully not wanting to walk into a trap. Slowly Lightning stopped walking and frowned at the clone that lay before her not moving a single muscle.

"Hey Jihl I think I broke your little toy." Lightning called out her voice echoing around the empty room as she turned in a circle to make sure Jihl would not ambush her.

"Oh Lightning why must you always be so reckless." Jihl replied her voice echoing around the room. "But no need to worry I'm preparing a little surprise for you right now."

"Oh my like I haven't had enough of them already." Lightning answered turning back to her clone that was no longer where she had last seen it. "Mother fu-" Lightning was cut off as she felt

something hit the back of her head and quickly knocked her out.

* * *

Back at the Farron residence Serah, Cloud, Amodar, Fang , Hope , Snow, Sazh, and Vanille were all sitting around in the living room anxiously awaiting Lightning's arrival.

"So everyone." Serah started standing up and motioning for Cloud to follow got every ones attention "This is Cloud. He's me and Lightning's older brother!" She said excitedly to the group.

"Really!?" Snow asked loudly out of shock.

"Yeah!" Serah answered happily.

"How'd he find you girls?" Vanille asked looking over the man with a careful eye.

"Well he saved us from a bunch of 'Cie corpses just as Lightning was about to be killed." Serah answered quickly.

"Oh." Was the solemn response from the group of friends.

"But were all here!" Vanille answered cheerily trying to raise the morale of the group.

"No were not Vanille, Lightning isn't here." Fang said giving the young girl a smack on the back of her head.

"Oh sorry." The red-head replied rubbing her head.

"No problem she'll be fine." Serah answered confident in her sister's abilities and skill to defeat Jihl.

* * *

"Mmmm." Lightning moaned groggily lifting her head to look around the room but she couldn't see anything because her vision was still blurry from the injury her head attained.

"What the hell." The strawberry blond muttered to herself as she rubbed the back of her head that was still aching from the hilt of the clone's Blaze Edge.

"Ah your awake." Jihl's voice came from the front of the grounded girl.

"What do you want?" Lightning asked trying to clear her vision by rubbing her eyes but it wouldn't work.

"You, of course Lightning." Jihl answered her back still turned away from the young woman, by her side was the doppelganger who knocked Lightning unconscious.

"Ugh." Lightning groaned dropping her head back onto the floor as she was to exhausted to keep it up. It was at this time that she looked around to see where she was, Lightning figured

that they were in the middle of the mist enshrouded part of the abandoned PSICOM building. The reason she thought this was because of the black mist that lingered in the air making it very

difficult to see that and the fact that Lightning's vision was still blurry and it didn't seem like it would be going anywhere.

"So what's this surprise you wanted to show me?" Lightning asked her voice raspy as the mist made it some what difficult to breath.

"In good time my dear but not now." Jihl answered turning to face the young girl that lay before her, Lightning struggled a bit but was able to climb to her feet feeling a looming prescense

over her that made her uneasy. "Ha ha ha." Laughter emanated from Lightning's throat as Jihl frowned at the young woman for her sudden sense of humour.

"What's so funny my dear?" Jihl asked confused by the girl's change of mood, looking her over Jihl saw that there was something dark about the Lightning before her. Her reason for this

was that Lightning's voice had became ice cold and she hadn't moved an inch since her change in mood.

"You are Jihl. You think that your in control that's what's funny." Lightning's cold voice barked out at the blond woman.

"Oh re-" Jihl was cut off as Lightning quickly bounded up to her and gave her a hard punch to the gut knocking the former lieutenant colonel out cold.

* * *

"Cloud what's wrong?" Serahasked her face taking on a worried expression as she put a hand on her older brother's shoulder.

"Nothing, I gotta go." The spiky haired man said standing up from his seat and grabbing his Fusion sword that lay on the table in front of him.

"Why?" Serah asked standing with him.

"It concerns Lightning, something isn't right with her." Cloud explained putting a hand on Serah's shoulder.

"Oh. Well then go and make sure she's safe." Serah said quietly, Cloud nodded and headed to the door "Cloud!" Serah called out to the man maing him stop.

"Yeah?" He called back looking over his shoulder.

"Protect her. She may not want it but protect her." Serah told him.

* * *

Jihl's eyes fluttered open as a searing pain was sent up her spine, the first thing she saw was Lightning leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest and her head down

making it impossible to read her expression. The blond woman took in her predicament as she looked up and down- her arms were held up above her head by thick chains and her legs

were bound together by the same chains. Groaning Jihl got Lightning's attention for the young woman looked over to see that her rival had awaken, walking over Lightning's face was devoid

of expression. Stopping in front of her Lightning took a long hard look into Jihl's eyes where she saw slight fear in them, smirking she took a step back to think of what to do to the woman.

"So how does it feel to be in this position?" Her voice was still cold as ice.

"What are you doing Lightning?" Jihl asked frowning at the woman. "The heroine never does this kind of stuff."

"Than consider me of a new breed." Lightning replied walking over to bag of supplies Jihl had on a table located in the corner.

"What are you-" Jihl started to say.

"Shut up or I'll make you!" Lightning yelled over to the woman s she started to go through the contents of the bag, the strawberry blond pulled out the artificial magic devices.

"Look what we have here Jihl, you had so much fun using these." Lightning said walking up to the woman holding the circular devices up to the blond's face. "But you have no need for them

anymore." Lightning said throwing them up to the air while pulling her Blazefire Saber from it's holstered and proceeded to shoot the metal objects obliterating them.

"Hmm your right." Jihl answered smugly stil able to keep her cocky demeanor despite her position.

"Shut up Jihl." Lightning snapped again as she took out another object from the bag. "Ha ha ha oh my Jihl you remember this?" She asked while laughing and holding up the object of her

humour. "Uh yeah." Jihl swallowed audibly as she glanced over at the large red gag ball that Lightning held in her hand.

"Were you planning on using this on me again?" She asked the woman while glaring at her.

"I can't sneak anything by you can I?" Jihl asked in a joking manner.

"I'm not laughing Jihl." Lightning responded with a straight face.

"You never do." Her captive shot back.

"I've heard enough out of you." Lightning snarled taking the ball in her hand and shoving it into Jihl's mouth making the blond woman gag as she tilted her head back, Lightning quickly locked

it into place and threw Jihl's head back down roughly. The long haired woman looked in confusion to see the clone of Lightning just standing idly by doing nothing to prevent her from hurt.

"I casted a stop spell on your little play thing here if your wondering." Lightning explained upon seeing Jihl's frustrated gaze.

"Mmmph!" Jihl growled out of frustration as she attempted to break free of the chains only to fail miserable as Lightning laughed at her pathetic attempts.

"Doesn't feel so good does it?" She mocked throwing her head back in laughter remembering the times that Jihl had her tied up, suddenly the young strawberry blond turned around and

landed a punch flush on Jihl's jaw making the woman moan out in pain as she walked back over to the bag of stuff Jihl had planned to use on her. Lightning frowned as she grabbed hold of a

rusty metal pole like object, pulling it out she saw that it was a branding iron with the Sanctum's crest as the brand, laughing the young woman walked back over to Jihl with the pole in hand.

"You were gonna brand me?" She asked coldly using one end of the pole to lift Jihl's chin to look up at her face, in response Jihl nodded 'yes'.

"Well then I guess I won't let this go to waste. Oh look at the brand huh how clever Jihl so this would have said that I belonged to the Sanctum and was their pet?" Lightning asked.

"Mmmph." Jihl nodded yes once more.

"But your not with the Sanctum anymore." Lightning stated walking around Jihl in a circle like a tiger about to pounce on it's prey.

"Mmmph?" Jihl moaned confused at what the woman was getting at.

"Than I guess I'll have to mark you as their pet also." Lightning replied with an evil smirk on her face.

* * *

Cloud had just exited the Farron home and was heading down the front steps when he stopped because he had the sensation that someone was watching him, whirling around he saw

Yaag Rosch leaning against the house. "What are you doing here?" The spiky haired man asked pulling his fusion sword from it's holster.

"Lightning's not here is she?" The man asked stepping away from the wall of the house.

"No, but what do you care?" Cloud asked frowning at why the lieutenant colonel wanted to know where his little sister is.

"She's my friend. It's normal to feel concerned for your friend's safety." Yaag responded.

"Is it also normal to try and kidnap your friends?" Cloud asked remembering the time Lightning had told him of when Yaag beat her up in the interrogation and held her prisoner.

"Listen I was only doing my job." Yaag shot back clearly angry with the accusation.

"By hurting her?" Cloud asked knowing that it was part of the man's job but he still asked for the hell of it.

"I also protected her!" Yaag yelled "do you have any idea how many of my men wanted to rape her? their a sick bunch so I brought her into my office so she was safe and always in my sight!"

"Huh." Was Cloud's only response he knew by the pain in Yaag's voice that the man truly did care for his little sister.

"See I do care now where is she?" Yaag asked taking a few steps towards the spiky haired man before him.

"You...love her don't you?" Cloud asked already knowing the man was deeply in love with his younger sibling, Yaag was silent for a moment before answering.

"...Yes." He replied ducking his head. "I've loved her for many years now, and I can't even express the pain I went through when she became a l'Cie and I got the assignment to kidnap her.

I just couldn't do it so I handed it off to Jihl, but I watched over her when that cold woman brought her in. I didn't want to see her get hurt anymore especially after I did...that!" Yaag said

sorrowfully. "Tell me...would you kidnap her if she were standing right where I am?" Cloud asked the love sick man.

"I...have to do my job, it's either that or die. But I might as well pass on if she does." Yaag answered the other man's question.

"Don't worry. She's got a _lot _of fight left in her, she'll be fine." Cloud assured placing his fusion sword back into it's holster.

"Yeah isn't that the truth." Yaag agreed getting a chuckle out of the comment of the young woman's ever relentless feisty attitude.

"It is, now I'm gonna go check on her. She was acting strange." Cloud shrugged as he turned back toward the road.

"Wait..let me help you." Yaag offered his help to the spiky haired individual.

"No. If you see her you'll have to detain her." Cloud spoke shaking his head at the man's help.

"Yes I guess your right thank you Mr. uh..."

"Name's Cloud. Cloud...Farron" The blond haired man provided as Yaag nodded in response.

"So then your her-"

"Older brother yes." Cloud nodded.

"Hmm about time you showed up. She really needs someone older than her to look over her." Yaag said as Cloud started down the street with a wave and a nod.

* * *

"MMMMPH!" Jihl cried out into her gag as Lightning brutally shoved the hot poker against her exposed skin, Lightning smirked as she threw the poker aside and pulled her Blazefire Saber from

it's holster running her hand along it's blade she prepared to put the final blow into her rival's chest. Pulling the sword back as far as she could Lightning started an over the shoulder attack

but just as she was about to finish her rival off an extremely loud ringing noise rang out in her head. Lightning missed her attack because of the ringing, instead cutting the chains that held

Jihl in half effectively freeing her. Falling to the ground Lightning held her head in pain as the ringing continued to get higher pitched, however she seemed to be back to her normal self as she

couldn't remember the events since being knocked out by her clone. Looking up the strawberry blond saw Jihl had gotten the rest of the chains off of her legs and was now standing up and

drawing her cobalt sword. "I don't know how you always find yourself in this position but you really messed up this time Lightning." Lightning muttered to herself as the ringing seemed to die

down a little. Standing up she brought her sword to her chest with a groan as Jihl readied her own weapon, suddenly Jihl smiled knowingly and relaxed her posture.

"What are you so happy about?" Lightning asked frowning at the woman but still keeping her defensive stance up.

"Oh back to normal are you dear?" Jihl asked confusing Lightning more.

"I...guess." She replied thinking Jihl was playing mind games with her.

"Good now listen carefully." Jihl instructed walking over to the bag of supplies that still lay untouched on the table.

"What are you do-" Lightning was quickly cut off by Jihl.

"Be quiet little girl learn to respect her elders." Jihl said quickly flustering Lightning making her face turn red out of frustration.

"Arrgh." All Lightning could manage was a growl of frustration at the blond woman.

"Good girl now as I was going to say before you so rudely interrupted me was that I placed several large bombs on the foundation of this building." Jihl started causing Lightning's face to

drain of all color. "Why would you do that!?" Lightning yelled at the woman her frustration and anger getting the better of her.

"Because were both extremely talented and I want to test our skills with a time limit." Jihl answered pulling a switch from the bag and holding it up for the young woman to see.

"You gotta be kidding me Jihl are you out of your mind!?" Lightning asked with her mouth gaping open.

"Why yes dear I am." Jihl replied smiling sadistically as she pressed the button before tossing the small mechanism to the side and one again preparing her sword for the upcoming battle.

Lightning sighed as she braced herself for the upcoming fight of her life no doubt the most difficult obstacle that she has ran into up until this point in her life was standing right across from

with the same intentions- of coming out alive, but Lightning was comfortable because she felt her father right there beside her. The two women jumped at each other their blades colliding

with Lightning's more powerful weapon pushing Jihl back a bit gaining the advantage. The stalemate went on for a few minutes until Lightning managed to push the long haired woman over

but Jihl was able to get out of the sticky situation by using the forward momentum to throw Lightning over her head and into the metal wall. Lightning fell to the floor and quickly jumped to

her feet seemingly unaffected by the impact of crashing into the wall as she casted a blizzaga spell on Jihl forcing Jihl to take the defensive therefore giving her time to take the offensive and

get into melee range of the woman. Lightning swung her sword vishously her anger for the crazed lieutenant colonel taking over as she tried to do what she wanted most- to crush the woman,

Jihl was able to block all of the attacks with some difficulty as the power of the weapon the young woman wielded. After a few minutes of Lightning pressing her advantage Jihl was able to spin

off to the side just as Lightning brought her sword down exposing the strawberry blond's whole backside. Jihl didn't waste this oppurtuinity as she brought her own sword down carving down

Lightning's back. Lightning let out loud cry of pain as she arched her back and fell to the floor with small whimpers escaping her lips, Jihl smirked walking around the grounded warrior and lifted

her chin using her sword. Lightning glared up at the woman while clenching her teeth from the searing pain in her back Jihl smiled again as she saw by her opponents facial expression that

she was in great pain. "Only ten more minutes Lightning." She told her smiling down at the younger girl, Jihl moved her sword out of the way allowing Lightning's head to drop back onto the

floor. Lightning moaned out in pain as she pulled herself back to her feet "You'll regret not killing me Jihl." She told the woman while breathing heavily and fighting through the pain.

Lightning made the first move as she brought her sword down on the woman but it was much slower than her usual crisp lightning fast attack because the injury to her back was slowing her

down considerably. The result was Jihl easily avoiding it and jabbing the hilt of her sword into Lightning's side causing a loud ear splitting crack to echo on the empty floor, Lightning fell

to the floor with the wind knocked out of her from Jihl's attack which probably broke and cracked a couple of her ribs. Lightning pressed her face into the floor as she struggled to get the air

back into her lungs, sliding up onto her knees Lightning rested her head on her arms as she took in deep breaths of air. Jihl stood confidently over the grounded woman obviously feeling

that she had the fight won. Quickly Lightning casted a firaga spell on the woman and jumped up into the air landing gracefully behind the l'Cie landing a few slashes with her sword on the

woman's back. Jihl arched her back now with the same injury that Lightning's had sustained and whirled around to face the young woman who had inflicted the damage, bringing her sword

up the blond was able to block the remaining attacks that the strawberry blond had left for her, which were getting a little faster as she grew accustomed to the pain in her back as it dulled.

As Lightning's onslaught of attacks came to an end Jihl took her turn throwing her own attacks at the young woman forcing her into a defensive position, the blond continued to bring her

sword down as hard as she could with each time she connected making Lightning slide back a couple of feet from the force of the attack. Quickly Jihl jumped back and her sword started to

glow a light blue color, bringing her sword arm back behind her she extended her arm and brought it back forward quickly sending a light blue burst of energy towards her opponent.

Lightning saw this and tried to avoid it by jumping up over Jihl but as she landed she turned around to see that the energy blast had followed her, with no time to move the light blue blast

connected with the l'Cie exploding on impact sending her all the way across the length of the floor slamming into the wall. Lightning pulled herself to her feet to see Jihl coming back at her

again, bringing her sword to her chest Lightning blocked Jihl's incoming attack and parried the next effectively landing her own attack on the long haired woman. Lightning continued to

take the offensive in what seemed to be a never ending cycle of each woman taking turns on the offensive and defensive, the strawberry blond landed several attacks on the former

lieutenant colonel beating up her body as bad as her own was however Jihl seemed to be unaffected by this as she continued to block the younger girl's attacks easily. Lightning looked

to her right and mentally swore, she saw that her clone was now free from the stop spell and was coming right for her. Shifting her position to face both of her opponents Lightning used

her sword hand to block Jihl's attack and her free hand to send a thundaga spell the doppelganger's way. The shifty thing was able to evade the magical spell and get into close quarters

with Lightning and Jihl, Lightning blocked both their attacks and handspringed backwards to create some distance between herself and her opponents desperately thinking and searching

for a way to even the playing field. But the clone, and Jihl made it impossible to let her think for long as they were right up in her face within seconds. Lightning was able to fight the two

off by alternating her attack patterns from one to the other, suddenly the strawberry blond landed a kick on the side of her clone's face knocking it to the ground and giving her time to

focus on Jihl. Lightning landed a couple of attacks on the woman before her doppelganger was back on the offensive Lightning cursed as it landed a few attacks on her pinning her back

to the wall. Lightning ducked her clones incoming punch and jabbed the hilt of her sword into the thing's stomach knocking it back quite a ways giving her time to fend Jihl off as she started

attacking the other woman, their swords clashing as Lightning had enough force behind her attacks to start forcing her backwards. In a matter of seconds the doppelganger was back

in the fight as it started swinging it's Blaze Edge down on the strawberry blond. Finally it was able to bring it's sword down connecting with Lightning's left shoulder, her armor that rested

there did a good job of deflecting the strike but was unable to absorb all of the damage as it sent her arm recoiling back as she dropped down to one knee shortly after bringing her

other hand up to hold her injured shoulder. Lightning breathed heavily looking up at Jihl and her clone wondering what they would do next, she felt light headed from the blood loss she

had endured, blinking her eyes several times repeatedly Lightning saw small black spots dart across her vision signaling she would soon pass out.

"Three more minutes left in your life Lightning. I hope you enjoy them." Jihl spoke smugly as she raised her sword above her head ready to deliver the final blow to her beautiful rival, but

as she was about to come down something hit Jihl and sent her into the adjacent wall, and shortly after the doppelganger followed suit, Lightning looked back up to see who had come to

her rescue. "Cloud." She said quietly her voice hoarse.

"I'm here Lightning." Cloud started kneeling down beside his little sister and putting his hand on her back to help comfort her. "And I'm going to protect you no matter what."

"T-thanks." Lightning stuttered as Cloud handed her a high potion- it wasn't much but it was enough to get the fight back into her.

"No problem." The older sibling replied helping Lightning to her feet as Jihl and her clone stepped forward for another round, Lightning sighed as she brought her sword up to her chest as

she prepared herself for the next assault. "You take my clone. I want Jihl." Lightning told Cloud who nodded in response, before their opponents had any time to react Cloud took a quick

lunge towards his little sister's clone knocking it through the window of the large building, Lightning saw both Cloud and her doppelganger take off to the roof of the building for their fight.

Lightning quickly too the offensive as Jihl was caught by surprise as she was watching Cloud and the clone go at it, a quick slash across the woman's stomach brought Jihl back to reality.

_Only three minutes Lightning gotta make this quick _the strawberry blond thought to herself as she engaged Jihl in combat their powerful swords clashing, although she was in a fight for her

life Lightning couldn't help but think about how Jihl created those energy blasts. Jihl executed a perfect power attack that sent Lightning sliding back a few feet although she was still

standing, Lightning blocked the next few attacks and parried the last countering by carving another streak across Jihl's back which seemed to have no affect on the woman as she continued

to press the strawberry blond into a defensive postion. Jihl caught Lightning off guard with a hard punch to the face that would no doubt leave her with a black eye if she survives this

ordeal, the blond woman followed this up with slashing Lightning across her ribs with such force that she broke several of them. Lightning collapsed to the floor breathing heavily for the

second time. Suddenly Lightning got an idea, she looked up to see Jihl doing some action but did not pay any attention to it as she jumped up and slashed her sword as pink and red flashes

of light engulfed the entire room as the bombs Jihl had set went off causing the structure to start to collapse.

* * *

Cloud and Lightning's clone had just gotten onto the roof when the clone made the first move with a swift punch to the man's face, Cloud flew back from the force of the punch but was able

to land on his feet while raising his Fusion sword up into an offensive position as he lunged towards the thing at fast speeds. With a swing of his sword he sent the doppelganger towards

the edge of the roof but the slimy little thing was able to land on it's feet and jump back towards the man making Cloud take the defensive as the doppelganger continued to swing at Cloud

with it's sword over and over again. Cloud blocked each of them with ease before bringing his elbow up and smashing it off the clone's nose probably breaking it in several places as a

sickening black ooze dripped from it like it was it's blood. Cloud then brought his sword down crashing into the thing's skull but it was rock hard and didn't even make a dent in it, the clone

responded with a kick to Cloud's stomach strong enough to send him back a few feet. The blond man recovered in mid air and charged back towards the clone of his little sister, smashing

his large sword into it's side a bone crunching snapping sound echoing throughout the abandoned town of Bodhum. The doppelganger fell to the ground just as the building started to shake

and explode.

* * *

Jihl had taken out her own crimson red jem and cut it in half with her sword bringing forth her eidolon Ifrit, the large beast had an orange colored body and was considerably muscular

it's head had black armor plates on it and had horns that stretched back behind it's head and it wore several beads all over it's body it made Lightning think of Vanille. The fire breathing

beast leapt down to the floor making the entire building shake under it's force adding to the already unstable structure. Ifrit threw it's head back and breathed it's fire breath aimed for

Lightning but before it could hit the young woman her eidolon Odin stepped in front of it using it's shield to block the substance. Both Lightning and Odin took offensive positions as their

opponents took defensive stances, Lightning jumped at Jihl while Odin jumped at Ifrit all four of them collided in a test of strength. Lightning seemed to have the edge over Jihl but Ifrit

was beating Odin so the strawberry blond swiped her sword at the fiery eidolon giving a helping hand to her own summon, Odin also alternated targets by going on the attack swiping

his large double edged sword at Jihl which the blond woman blocked but was knocked back several feet. Lightning found herself quickly outmatched in terms of strength as she relied

on her speed to best the hell spawned creature. Quickly front flipping over the large eidolon Lightning proceeded to slash at the beast's back as it took a rush at Odin who blocked the

attack with his shield while simaltaniously landing an attack on Jihl sending her back. Lightning ran towards Odin and jumped up grabbing his hand allowing Odin to throw her high into

the air, the strawberry blond came down and landed a powerful attack on Jihl sending the blond woman into the wall. Moments later the young woman felt a searing pain resonate from

her back as Ifrit had landed a firaga spell on her, dropping to one knee Lightning switched her Blazefire Saber into gun mode and opened fire on the eidolon creating a distraction for Odin

to land a few hits of his own. The building started to collapse as the roof began to fall through allowing the moonlight to shine in through the several holes that now line the ceiling, not long

after the holes appear did Cloud and Lightning's clone fall through one of them and into the heat of the fight. Lightning jumped towards her clone kncking it back into the wall and she

continued to punch it in the face over and over again giving Cloud time to recover. Jumping to his feet the blond man rushed over and started to go to work on Jihl, landing several attacks

on the long haired woman as she was still a little dazed from assault Lightning had given her moments before. Ifrit swung his clawed hand and knocked Odin to the floor colliding with

Lightning and her doppelganger. Lightning felt the body of her eidolon fall against her back as she was pinned to the ground under it's massive frame, squirming she found it helpless as the

iron body was much too heavy for her to wiggle out of. Instead she switched her sword into gun mode and provided some cover fire for Cloud until Odin could regain his senses.

Cloud found himself taking on three opponents as once as Jihl, Ifrit, and the doppelganger were now standing as one before him, the clone made the first move- clearly the dumbest of the

three-which Cloud swung his sword like a baseball bat, knocking the clone across the stomach while it was in mid-air sending it across the room. Ifrit was the next to charge but was slowed

down by the bullets that Lightning shot at him, giving Cloud time to charge up his blade bean limit break as he brought his sword back and then forward just as the fire eidolon got in range.

The blue beam burst forth from his silver sword just as Ifrit touched the ground connecting head on with his head, and sending the orange beast tumbling backwards. Jihl jumped over her

injured eidolon and landed gracefully as she quickly dashed forward swiping her sword several times in succession at the spiky haired man, Cloud was able to block a few but the rest

penetrated his defense and cut him in several places. Odin was finally able to climb to his feet, freeing Lightning from his crushing of her gorgeous fit body, the young woman quickly jumped

to her feet and threw herself at Jihl knocking the woman away from her brother. Cloud recovered in time to block the incoming attack from his sister's clone and parried knocking the thing

away from him, which he followed up by throwing himself at the creation and landing several hard hits with his sword. Odin lunged towards Ifrit and swung his large sword forcing the other

eidolon into a defensive position as the fire being raised his clawed hands to block the attacks, with each hit sliding him back a few feet. Quickly the orange eidolon jumped over the taller

one and quickly slashed his claws across the knight king's back, which seemed to have no affect on him as he spun around and landed a slash from his sword across Ifrit's chest making

the wolf like creature howl in pain. Lightning poured powerful attacks upon Jihl as the other woman tried desperately to block each one, but barely succeeded as many of the strawberry

blond's attacks got through the blond's hasty defense as Lightning had her on the run. Cloud took another swing at the doppelganger as it came back for more with each hit he gave it

suddenly the clone fired a blizzaga spell at the unsuspecting man knocking him onto the ground from the shear power of the attack. Odin took another wild slash at Ifrit knocking the wild

beast back tumbling across the floor, he quickly jumped up into the air and came back down plunging his sword into the beast's chest. Lightning was knocked back by Jihl as the woman

shot another energy blast from her sword striking the young woman in the chest and proceeded to electricute her. Lightning cried out in pain before she dropped to the floor with shallow

breathing. Ifrit managed to climb to his feet with Odin's sword still protruding from his chest, grabbing the sword with both hands the eidolon threw the knight king, the king of Gods Odin

across the room with as much force as he could. Lightning looked up to see Jihl raising her sword above her head about to finish her off, the strawberry blond squeezed her eyes shut

knowing that there was no way to avoid the finishing blow that Jihl had in store for her. Suddenly a quick blur of white came across her vision and slammed into the crazed woman

sending her into the wall, now pinned to it by Odin's massive frame. Cloud jumped to his feet just avoiding the doppelganger's Blaze Edge, taking advantage of the clone's misfortune of

having it's sword stuck in the ground Cloud swung his sword with all his strength shattering the doppelganger's left hand disabling it of using magic. The clone swung it's hand to test out

if it still had the ability to do so, but it didn't, looking up the clone was met with one of Cloud's gloved fists to it's face knocking the deathly pale figure back sliding across the floor.

Odin pushed off a Jihl and raised his fist bringing it down shortly after, but Jihl was able to spin off to the side avoiding the bone crunching punch which sent Odin's hand through the thick

wall getting it stuck. Lightning climbed to her feet a bit wobbly as her legs felt numb turning to her right the young woman gasped as she saw Jihl's eidolon Ifrit coming at her full force

with a gaping hole in it's chest from where Odin's sword as been. Massive amounts of blood fell from the wound and Lightning could tell that it was slowly dying slowly but surely, Lightning

brought her sword up to her chest in a futile attempt at a defense. It was no chance as the bulldozer of a creature ran over her easily sending the strawberry blond clear across the room

and slamming into the far wall creating a large dent in the outline of her fit body. Groggily looking up Lightning saw the fire eidolon about to crush her small frame to dust as it was taking

another run at the helpless girl. As it neared closer Lightning's sensitive ears picked up the sound of it's thundering footsteps rumbling towards her, one the enemy was five feet in front

of her Lightning closed her eyes awaiting the end. Upon hearing a loud crash Lightning's eyes flew open to see Odin standing before her blocking Ifrit with his shield while looking over his

shoulder to see if the young woman was alright. Lightning nodded to her eidolon as she pushed herself off of the wall and moved towards her clone that lay a few feet away, jumping into

the air Lightning came down a moment later with great force. The blade of her Blazefie Saber connected with her double's stomach cutting deep into the fake flesh, forcing a black ooze to

drip from the wound. The doppelganger swung it's legs around and tripped the strawbery blond while standing up and landing a punch on Lightning's well muscled stomach, letting out a cry

Lightning rolled to the side as the crumbling building seemed to stabilize at an odd angle. Lightning looked up to see her clone land a punch on her eye instantly making it go numb, the

clone raised it's face once more but before it could deliver the blow a large buster sword swept it into the wall. Cloud offered his hand which Lightning took as her brother pulled her to her

feet. "Let's end this already." He said softly upon seeing his sister's heaving chest as she took in constant gulps of air exhausted from the strenuous activity, nodding Lightning turned

around and blocked Jihl's attack which would have been right in her chest if not for her amazingly quick reflexes. Odin and Ifrit were in a test of strength with none faltering under the other's

strength but Odin had the advantage and he knew it as Ifrit's strength was quickly diminishing from the wound the knight king had inflicted himself. With another push the king of gods was

able to push the hell spawn over following it up with a slash across it's chest and another stab into the ever widening gaping wound on it's front side. Ifrit scrambled to his feet swinging

his claws wildly at the holy knight, Odin easily blocked these futile attempts and followed it up with a slash across the beast's head. Lightning and Jihl were locked up in a sword dance as

one would take the offensive than switch back to the defensive and then repeat the cycle over again. Lightning was the first to draw blood as she connected with Jihl's shoulder throwing

it back in a recoiling motion as Lightning then threw a kick landing it on her head which knocked the blond woman to the ground. Lightning swung her sword down at the insane woman

who was able to avoid it and spring up to her feet backhanding Lightning across the face forcing the now glistening young woman to take a few steps back as she brought a hand up to

her stinging cheek. Cloud turned to see his little sister's clone just climbing out of the wall, he lunged forward with his sword pointing forward ready to plung it in the thing's heart if it even

has one but before the sword could touch the creation it caught the large weapon with it's hands. Cloud stared in shock as it lifted him off of the ground and threw him across the room.

Odin was about to finish Ifrit off when a black clad body flew into his own sending them both dangerously close to the edge of the room with the broken window. Lightning was at a

disadvantage having to face both Jihl and her own clone by herself, Jihl went first this time swinging her sword at the strawberry blond that Lightning easily blocked and spun gracefully

holding her sword above her head as she brought it down on the doppelganger while bringing her hand out and casting a wateraga spell on Jihl knocking both of her opponents back a few

steps giving herself room to work. The clone flew at her seconds later but Lightning flipped over her double switching her Blazefire Saber into gun mode and firing down at the thing, which

she followed up by switching it back to sword mode and slashing at Jihl which connected, carving a streak across her stomach making the blond woman hiss through clenched teeth.

Ifrit took the golden opportunity that lay before him as he lunged down at Odin pinning him to the ground with his head hanging over the broken window, Odin brought his double edged

sword up to his neck using it to push the fire eidolon from his tactical advantage but the other eidolon was to strong from it's vantage point as he continued to push Odin's sword down

to his neck as the taller eidolon pushed with all his strength. Cloud pulled himself to his feet and looked over to see Ifrit on top of Odin, quickly the blond man swung his sword connecting

with the orange creature's back. The large beast slowly turned around to see what had hit him, letting out a loud howl of anger as he saw the man before him, with a lunge the beast

took a wild swipe at Cloud with his large claws jumping to the side Cloud found no difficulty in dodging the slow attack which he countered with a whack of his sword upside the eidolon's

head. Jihl responded to Lightning's attack by blocking the next and following it up by landing a couple of attacks on the young woman, Lightning stumbled back just as the doppelganger

jumped over Jihl and landed it's own jump attack knocking the strawberry blond back. Lightning slid and then back flipped to regain her composure and ready herself for another round

bringing her sword up to her chest just as the clone arrived at her, the result being that the attack was easily blocked. Lightning pushed the clone back and swung her sword at Jihl as the

older woman stepped up to her, both women's swords collided as they locked with each other with one another pushing for the advantage. Odin jumped up and brought his double edged

sword down into Ifrit's back taking the eidolon's concentration away from Cloud, with a wild swing of his claws Ifrit turned to face the king of gods. Odin brought his sword up to his chest

as Ifrit swung at hi and breathed fire through his mouth, which Odin blocked both with his large shield, with a single swing of his giant sword Odin knocked the fire eidolon onto his back.

Lightning and Jihl were still battling eachother with their swords locked together, looking over the blond woman's shoulder Lightning saw Odin knock Ifrit over and an idea sparked in her

mind. "Cloud keep the goth busy!" Lightning yelled as she flipped over Jihl and started sprinting over to Odin despite her aching fit legs, Odin nodded as he saw the young woman running

over to him. He had expected her to jump the air and caught her by her free hand and twirled her upward while simultaneously switching into Gestalt form, the transformation just ending

as Lightning came to sit upon him giving her legs a much needed break. Cloud took Lightning's order and jumped at the clone of his sibling knocking it back with his large fusion sword,

said clone flew into the wall the force causing more of the roof to collapse down onto the thing's body. Turning around, Cloud was met with Jihl's fist as she knocked him into the wall.

Cloud kicked the woman in the stomach as he pushed himself off of the wall bringing his sword into Jihl's ribs as he did so. Retrieving Odin's sword from where it stuck out of the ground

Lightning and Odin took off towards Jihl, Cloud, and the doppelganger while Ifrit struggled to get back into fighting shape. Cloud saw Lightning and Odin coming towards him and he also

saw Lightning nodding her head to the right signaling for him to get out of the way. He did just that as he grabbed the clone and threw the pale figure out of the newly created hole

following after it shortly after. Now it was only Lightning, Jihl, and their eidolons in the room _I gotta end this right now _Lightning thought as her glistening body took in shaky breaths while

staring at Jihl, once more she felt the presence of her father right there beside her. The young woman turned around as she heard the tell tale thundering footsteps as she saw Ifrit running

towards her and her eidolon. Lightning fired a whirlwind at Jihl with Odin's sword forcing the woman into dodging the attack instead of forcing an offensive of her own, Odin quickly got out

of the way of Ifrit as he steamrolled past the two. Jihl hopped up onto Ifrit as he circled around her and the two prepared to fight the other duo that stood across from them, Jihl moved

her eyebrows up in a unasked question, Lightning rolled her eyes but nodded as she broke Odin's sword in two and tossed one over to the woman. Ifrit trotted around Lightning, and Odin

and went down to the other side of the floor leaving a great deal of distance between the two pairs. Lightning took in a deep breath before Odin went up in the air and started to run

towards Ifrit and Jihl picking up speed as they moved forward. Lightning readied her sword as Jihl did the same, once in range both women took a swing at each other, both swords clanking

against one another as not one of the l'Cie was able to connect with their opponent. Doing a quick u-turn at the end of the room Odin took another run at the pair, but this time it yielded

the same results Odin went to turn back but Lightning patted his head to keep him from going further as they stared down Jihl. Lightning looked up at the woman far down from herself but

her twenty-twenty vision was able to pick up that the blond was holding a small object in her hand, the strawberry blond let out a sigh as she realized Jihl had yet another trick up her sleeve.

"What is it Jihl?" Lightning called out somewhat relieved to have a break but at the same time terrified of what the woman may be plotting.

"This, my dear. Is a little switch that will bring down this entire building." Jihl explained holding the metallic object up in the air while staring at it with awe in her eyes.

"Another bomb huh?" Lightning asked shaking her head while looking down.

"That's right, only much much bigger." Jihl spoke coldly before pressing the button and tossing it aside. "You've got twenty minutes this time Lightning, and this time it's coming all the way

down!" Jihl yelled as the two eidolons ran towards one another. This time Lightning swung the large half of the sword with all her strength and managed in knocking the other half of Odin's

blade out of Jihl's hand also sending the l'Cie along with it. Lightning hopped off of Odin while throwing her half of his blade into the air, Odin transformed back into his knight form and

caught the other half of his blade that Lightning threw up to him as Jihl recovered from the attack. Odin took a swing at Ifrit as he came to a stop but his forward momentum brought him

into the knight king's waiting blade, Ifrit flew to the ground past Lightning and Jihl who were now trapped in a sword dance that seemed to have no end in sight. After a few minutes

Lightning caught Jihl's shoulder with her blade, the extra power the sword had cutting deep into her flesh. The blond woman retaliated inflicting the same injury upon the glistening young

woman causing her to cry out in pain, Lightning grabbed her shoulder as blood seeped from the wound. Odin was knocked back as Ifrit lowered his shoulder ramming into the tall eidolon,

Odin quickly recovered and knocked the fire beast back with his sword, Ifrit lunged back swiping with both claws forcing Odin on the defensive as he attacked ferociously. The tall knight

was able to block the attacks easily as Ifrit's strength was seriously diminished and was barely a gust of wind now, Odin brought his sword up to his chest before performing his special

attack Zanetsuken twirling his blade with extreme power cutting Ifrit up until he dropped to the floor dead and not moving. Lightning was hit once more as Jihl sent out an energy blast which

had no problem connecting with the young strawberry blond as Lightning was too injured to dodge the attack. Tumbling to the ground Lightning felt completely helpless as Jihl looked down

on her with a triumphant smirk painted on her face, squeezing her eyes shut Lightning conjured up memories of her mother, father, Cloud who she only knew for a little while and still liked

him very much, and her little sister Serah the most precious thing in her life. These memories gave Lightning the strength to fight on as she felt her father's presence beside her once more

and also in her sword- his old sword. Lightning hopped to her feet and quickly blocked Jihl's oncoming attack, feeling renewed with energy the strawberry blond was able to block out the

pain of her various wounds and fight on despite her toned fit body nearly reaching it's limits. Landing several attacks on Jihl, Lightning felt that now was the time to end the fight and put

away her fear of the woman for good. Lightning landed one last hit shattering Jihl's defense before jumping into the move her father had taught her, Lightning started slashing at the blond

l'Cie several times landing each strike with great power. Lightning then jumped back shooting at the woman with her Blazefire Saber in gun mode before jumping back and landing some

more attacks, finally Lightning spun in a complete circle with her sword held out in a striking position before executing a spin attack so powerful that it brought Jihl to her death bed thus

completing the move her father had taught her long ago-the army of one.

* * *

Cloud watched his little sister's doppelganger leap from the building and start sprinting down the street. The blond man did not head after the thing because the current thought on his

mind was that of his little sister's safety. Choosing to take the stairs instead of jumping down one of the many holes that plagued the roof Cloud made his way over to the staircase which

was only a short trip across the roof, quickly climbing down the stairs Cloud kicked open the door and gasped at what he saw, the scene made his blood run cold. Standing there in the

middle of the room was his little sister Lightning, she stood still not moving an inch with her head down staring at something on the floor the way her bangs covered her eyes casted an

eerie shadow over them hiding them from view. Cloud could feel a strange, dark, and powerful aura coming from the young woman who was covered in injuries from the intense battle

she had endured just moments ago. "Lightning?" Cloud asked before gasping as he realized what the object on the ground was. Laying before his little sister was the upper half of Jihl

Nabaat's body cut clean in half at the waist, a few feet away from it was the lower half of the woman's body, her face had a pained look upon it and a quick survey of the room revealed

that both Odin was no where to be seen but Ifrit's corpse was laying in the corner not to far away from Lightning. Where the strawberry blond stood was covered in blood a mix of all the

participants life blood. Cloud still stood staring with a look of shock written on his face as a cold smirk came across Lightning's lips.


	17. Chapter 16: Death

Sisterly Love Chapter 16: Death

"Lightning...what did you do?" Cloud asked taking a few careful steps towards his little sister, who still stood in the same position with that cold smirk still present on her lips.

"You have eyes Cloud. See for yourself." Lightning spoke bluntly lifting her head so she could see his face.

"The Lightning I know wouldn't have done _this_." Cloud said motioning towards the top half of Jihl's body with his hands.

"Well Cloud you don't necessarily know me then, now do you?" Lightning asked kneeling before Jihl's body.

"I know you well enough to know you have a heart!" Cloud yelled, his voice echoing around the room, Lightning merely smiled in response before pulling something from Jihl's pocket.

"But you haven't known me long at all my dear brother." The young strawberry blond said as she stood to her full height.

"You don't even know yourself. What have you done with my sister?" Cloud asked watching Lightning intently.

"I am your sister-"

"No your not!" Cloud yelled cutting her off, which made her sigh and cross her arms over her chest.

"Well make sure to give her this, next time you see her." Lightning's ice cold voice rolled off her tongue as she tossed the blue crystal over to the blond man.

"What's this?" He asked catching with one hand and frowning at the rock.

"The reason she went to Pulse and the reason you were able to meet up with her. If it wasn't for me you two never would have been united." Lightning spoke her voice transforming from

her own into something much more deeper and was no longer human.

"What are you?" Cloud asked taking a few cautious steps back away from his possessed sibling.

"What kind of brother are you? hmm won't even save your little sister when your well aware that she is being controlled by something quite harmful to her?" 'Lightning' asked laughing at the

spiky haired indivisual. "What are you?" Cloud asked again ignoring his possessed sister's question.

"I am something that holds your dear little sister's life in my hands. Now let's see just how good you really are." And with those words the possessed Lightning flew at Cloud with her Blazefire

Saber in hand, slashing at him wildly each hit knocking him back. Cloud took a swing at his sister, not to hurt her but to force the young woman onto the defensive. Lightning blocked the

attacks with ease, despite being younger than him she seemed to be out of his league when it came to fighting. Letting his guard down for only a second was more than enough time for the

strawberry blond as she landed an attack on his shoulder. Cloud grasped it momentarily before Lightning landed another attack on the right side of his ribs, forcing the blond man onto one

knee. Looking up into Lightning's light blue eyes he saw a single trace of his sister in them before it vanished instantly as she brought her sword down towards his head. Just barely Cloud

was able to roll out of harms reach as Lightning's sword struck the marble floor. Cloud threw a punch and landed it on Lightning's already badly injured ribs, expecting a hurt reaction Lightning

merely smiled in response seemingly unaffected by the blow. Cloud was at a loss of what to do, he couldn't hurt his own little sister but he couldn't allow her to hurt him and he can't even

hurt her without using his sword. Cloud was jarred from his thoughts as the building began to shake violently, and explosions started causing the room to burst into flames as the bombs Jihl

had planted went off consecutively shaking the building to it's very foundation. Lightning seemed unaffected as Cloud stumbled a bit, and he recovered just in time to block Lightning's next

attack. Flipping over the man Lightning fired several bullets at him which embedded themselves into various places on his upper body, Cloud figured that the real Lightning still had a bit of

control because of them were lethal shots. Cloud gritted his teeth as he brought his sword back up to prepare to block the young woman's next attack, with their swords clashing Cloud was

able to lock them together easily taking the advantage sice he was much stronger than her. The building suddenly started to slide down on the right side- the side that Lightning had her

back to. The pair started to slide down as the floor as they fought to keep their footing a wall of fire appeared in front of the shattered window, as the two got closer to the fire Lightning

turned around and pulled away as she back flipped and kicked off of the wall just above the fire. Cloud quickly reacted doing the same by jumping and kicking off of the wall to avoid the

blazing inferno. As soon as he turned around Cloud was struck in his shoulder by Lightning's blade, crying out the blond man held his injured shoulder as he was hit with a firaga spell

which hit him directly in the gut. Cloud fell onto his back and began to quickly slide towards the open flame threatening to burn him to death, but at the last second a slender gloved hand

grabbed his own hand. Looking up Cloud saw the normal, gentle, kind, compassionate Lightning back in her eyes, but only for a second as she suddenly gathered the strength and tossed

him into the air following after him while slashing madly and landing every single blow. With another swing of her sword Lightning knocked the man back to the floor the force of the impact

making a small crater around where he layed so he wouldn't slide down towards the raging inferno beneath him. Coming down with her sword pointing downwards Lightning landed with

her Blazefire Saber sinking deep into Cloud's left shoulder, once more a non-lethal attack when she could have finished him off. Another sign that Lightning wasn't completely lost in the haze

of her controller's will. Pulling her sword free Cloud took his chance and grabbed a hold of her waist as he quickly jumped to his feet doing his best to ignore the pain.

"Hey what are you doing?" Lightning asked her voice now back to normal, but Cloud suspecting that it may be a trick clapped his hand over her mouth and slammed her head off of the wall

knocking her unconscious. Cloud scooped the young woman into his arms bridal style and started to search for a way out , drawing his sword he took off and smashed it into the wall creating

in opening to jump from. Clutching his unconscious sister close to him Cloud jumped from the building and landed on his feet, his knees buckling beneath him he carefully placed Lightning on

the ground. Putting her Blazefire Saber into it's holster, he began to pet her hair worried for her well being, stuck wondering whether being controlled like that for a long period of time

would have any affects on her when she wakes up. Picking the young woman up again Cloud headed towards the Farron home.

* * *

Serah began to worry, it had been a while since Lightning had been gone as well as Cloud who left maybe an hour ago._ What could they be doing? _Serah thought nervously glancing around

the room. "What's wrong babe?" Snow asked looking over at his fiance.

"Um well Lightning hasn't come back yet and so hasn't Cloud and it's been like a whole hour." Serah answered fiddling with her hands in her lap.

"She's fine, ten buck says so...speaking of the devil." Snow said motioning to the door as he saw Cloud's spiky hair through one of the windows.

"Huh?" Serah asked before turning to where Snow was motioning too, as Cloud opened the door with some difficulty. Jumping to her feet Serah ran over to him with some relief but also

a sick feeling in her stomach. "She's fine." Cloud told her as he brought Lightning into view for Serah to see.

"Oh my God." Serah breathed upon seeing her sister's condition, on impulse she stepped forward and began to pet Lightning's head trying to comfort the unconscious girl.

"Take her to the couch." Sazh called from the kitchen as he was fixing himself a sandwich, Cloud nodded carrying the light woman into the living room carefully laying her onto the couch.

"Shit she needs to go to the hospital." Snow said as he saw Lightning's short shallow breathing along with the many injuries which had been inflicted upon her.

"Yeah, but were all l'Cie. We can't just walk into a public place." Fang spoke taking a seat while placing Lightning's head onto her lap and petting it.

"So did you guys bet Jihl?" Vanille asked stepping into the room while fiddling with her many bracelets.

"Yes." Cloud replied not looking up at the young girl.

"Really?" Fang asked surprised.

"Lightning did it alone." Cloud answered looking over at the tan woman.

"Wow." Fang breathed looking down at the strawberry blond. "But not without some difficulty huh." She stated looking over Lightning's injuries.

"Yeah, now let's go to the hospital." Cloud said standing up, Snow helpfully brought his sister-in-law into his arms bridal style and headed for the door.

"I really don't think this is a good idea." Snow stated his opinion again as they all climbed into the car and pulled out of the driveway.

"Don't worry I have a plan, Fang make a stop by the PSICOM building." Cloud ordered to which Fang nodded a little hesitantly but headed in the direction none the less.

"Are you crazy man?" Sazh asked turning to look at the injured man with a look of shock written across his face.

"No, but you can never be too careful." Cloud replied cryptically, making everyone frown at him. Ten minutes later Fang pulled to a stop in front of the PSICOM Bodhum branch where Cloud

quickly jumped out of the vehicle and headed towards the entrance to the building. Not being a l'Cie made it easier for Cloud to move around the city then it did for the others as he was

not a wanted man. Stepping through the door Cloud walked up to the front desk earning him some stares because of his bleeding all over their new carpet.

"Can I help you sir?" The receptionist asked as the blond man arrived at the front desk.

"Yes, uh is lieutenant colonel Rosch in?" Cloud asked looking around the lobby.

"Uh, yes he is. May I ask what it's regarding?"

"Yeah, just tell him that a is here to see him." Cloud responded looking back at the woman in front of him.

"Alright." After a short conversation the receptionist gave Cloud directions to the silver haired man's office, it took him five minutes but he reached it with no problems. Stepping into the room

the spiky haired man saw Yaag seated behind his large desk.

"Ah may I help you? I see you must have had no problems with dispatching Jihl." Yaag said happily leaning back in his chair.

"No we didn't." Cloud started as he continued to walk towards Yaag's desk. "Now we've done you a favour, now it's your turn to pay us back."

"Hmm I suppose I may be able to help, what is it?" Yaag asked scratching his chin.

"Well Lightning was hurt pretty bad while we were busy doing your dirty business for you. And she's in no condition to be laying around in bed at her own home, so we need to take her to

the hospital." Cloud explained stopping in front of the now top lieutenant colonel's desk. "And congratulations on your promotion." He added as an afterthought.

"Hmm I appreciate that, I guess I could clear a whole wing of the hospital under PSICOM's command but only under one condition." Yaag told him sitting up.

"What is it?" Cloud asked with a sigh.

"She has to be detained." Yaag answered accepting Cloud's request.

"Fine." Cloud replied hesitantly but only caving in the end for his little sister's health.

"Alright then, you can follow us to the hospital." Yaag answered standing from his seat and heading to the door.

* * *

"Arrgh." Lightning groaned as she awoke from her unconscious state of being. Her eyes fluttered open to be met with a dark room, _good at least it's not a bright white one _she thought as

she felt someone holding her hand, looking to her right with some difficulty due to a stiff neck she saw Serah sitting in the chair beside her holding her hand in both of her own sobbing.

She didn't seem to notice that Lightning had woke up as she had her eyes closed with her hand pressed to her face. Lightning bit her lip hesitantly and then winced as they were puffy

and swollen like she had been making out for the past couple of hours. Serah caught the motion as she raised her head and instantly smiled as seeing her sister awake and well.

"Lightning are you okay?" She asked her voice a tiny whisper just above the sounds of the heart monitor among the other machines in the room.

"Y-yeah." Lightning answered her voice extremely hoarse and it pained her greatly to talk. Lightning tried to sit up only to let out a loud cry seconds later as she collapsed back onto the

hospital bed from the amount of pain that seemed to resonate from head to toe. Taking a look at herself she saw that she was now dressed in a white hospital gown that went down to her

knees and that she wore a black cast on each of her hands that started from the elbow and went down to her hand leaving space for her fingers to poke out of. Moving the blankets aside

she felt her ribs to see that they were heavily bandaged and just a small amount of pressure applied to the area caused her great pain. The strawberry blond also noticed that all the dirt

and grime from the battle had been washed from her body, even the blood now she was squeaky clean with her hair washed and everything. Lightning attempted to move her right hand

but saw that the movement was restricted for there on her right wrist was a pair of handcuffs as she was handcuffed to the bed.

"Yaag, has to put up the illusion of you being captured so the PSICOM won't do anything." Serah explained upon seeing her sister's frown. Nodding it had had taken Lightning this long to

realize that she could only see out of one eye, she gave Serah a confused look which prompted her sister to pull a mirror from her bag. Lightning took it from her still with the frown present

on her face, gazing into the glass she saw that her right eye was swollen shut and was black, probably from the punches Jihl landed she thought seeing that it was pretty much the only

damage done to her beautiful face. Handing the mirror back to her sister, Lightning dropped her head back onto the pillow with a heavy hoarse sigh.

"So what's the damage?" She asked referring to her body and it's injuries.

"Um..well you have three broken ribs, four cracked ribs, um you broke both her hands, suffered a collapsed lung and well you have a black eye that's swollen shut if that counts." Serah

explained, Lightning nodded before gazing around the room her body aching and in pain.

"Where is everyone?" She asked looking back at Serah who shrugged.

"Their outside, I wanted some time alone with you." She explained leaning over and giving her sister a light hug. "You never break your promises do you? you won and are safe."

"Yeah I never do." Lightning agreed chucking lightly but then stopping as she held her ribs in pain.

"Be careful. You pretty much can't do anything without hurting yourself." Serah said lightly placing her hand on Lightning's casted hand.

"Yeah tell me about it. I can barely raise my voice above a whisper." Lightning said sighing at her inability to do simple things which frustrated her beyond belief.

"Don't try to do anything except lay there." Serah ordered as she stood to head for the door.

"Yes mom." Lightning was about to roll her eyes but though better not to do it, since the one is swollen she doesn't want to find out if it hurts to do so or not.

"Good." Serah answered smiling as she opened the door to where the others waited sitting among the many benches and chairs. "Okay guys she's awake now."

"Finally." Fang said sarcastically rolling her eyes as the group got up and slowly filed into the room to see Lightning laying in bed looking fairly tired and hurt.

"Hey hows our favorite feisty young woman doing?" Snow asked taking one of her casted hands in his own.

"The only sound I can think of to explain it Snow is, ugh." Lightning explained seeming not to notice that he was holding her hand, an action that normally would anger her.

"She's on some pain meds." Serah explained upon seeing the puzzled look Snow gave her.

"Oh she seemed a little more relaxed than usual." Hope observed from his place on the couch in the corner of the room. Apart from Serah, Cloud seemed to be the most relieved of all to see

his sister was back to her normal self and had no lasting affects from the entity that had controlled her.

"Hey hun." Fang started as she went and kneeled beside the hospital bed taking Lightning's left casted hand in her own and looked into her eyes. "I brought your perfume for you." Fang

said holding out the small bottle, Lightning smiled as Fang grinned too. Fang gave her a light hug before praying the perfume on the younger girl.

"I never knew you used perfume Lightning." Sazh mused frowning at what he had just found out.

"A girl always uses perfume Sazh." Vanille informed while pointing her index finger at him.

"Not the greasy ones." Fang said thinking back to her high school days where the greasers populated the place with their leather pants.

"Can I talk to Lightning alone?" Cloud asked the group looking to each of their faces.

"Uh..sure." Snow shrugged as they all filed out slowly.

"Cloud I'm sorry." Lightning started as soon as the door was closed and it was only her and her older brother in the room, aside from all the quiet machines that occassionly made a beep or

two. "It's alright Lightning, I know you were not yourself. You are forgiven." Cloud spoke softly as he placed a hand reassuringly on her shoulder, Lightning nodded but made no move to

speak any further. Cloud lifted Lightning's head up by her chin so he could look her in the eyes, her beautiful light blue eyes that complimented that off both her soft facial features and went

perfectly with the color of her hair. "Do you remember anything?" The blond man asked watching his little sister's reaction to his question. Her facial expression changed to that of confusion

and curiosity. "Uh..no I don't." She admitted after a few moments with her own thoughts.

"What do you remember?" Cloud asked in an attempt to establish what his sibling already knew to save time explaining it all.

"Um, well I remember fighting Jihl, and that clone of myself along with Jihl's eidolon but after killing her, I don't know it's just a big blank." Lightning frowned as she continued to search her

mind for the memories that seemed to elude her, like a bad dream where your chasing something but no matter how fast you run your unable to catch it _'story of my life' _Lightning thought.

"Hmm so what happened to cause you to cut the woman in half?" Cloud asked frowning- by now he had taken a seat in the chair beside her bed, also releasing Lightning's face from his

grasp. "I guess..I don't know all my anger,hate, and fear for the woman just came out and took over me. I had no control of my actions, but I remember it clear as the sky is blue." Lightning

said flicking towards the window to her right which layed behind Cloud. Turning around, sure enough the sky was a cear blue as he hovered over Bodhum with many clouds in it's embrace.

"Hmm shorty after that, I came back down from the roof and you attacked me." Cloud informed leaning back in the uncomfortable chair that seemed fit as the beds were also not the most

luxurious. "I'm sorry." Lightning said again as she dropped her head so her bangs cast a shadow over her eyes.

"It's alright. I knew you were there some what, I could see it in your eyes. There were so many times when you could have finished me off but you didn't because you were there."

"Oh." Was all Lightning could manage to squeak out in response, also turning her head away from her brother.

"Oh yeah 'you' told me to give this to you the next time I saw you." Cloud said removing the blue crystal from his pocket and tossing it over to his little sister, Lightning caught it and stared

into the object. "Huh the object of my desire as of late." Lightning muttered holding the crystal up to the light shining in through the window.

"Yeah, but why is it that you need that thing?" Cloud asked frowning at the small object which rested in his sister's hand.

"Um, I think it may be my focus to deliver this thing to the fal'Cie." Lightning explained looking over at her brother, who still frowned at the object.

"Hmm how far along is your brand?" He asked wondering how much time she had until becoming a Cie'th.

"Hmm I think the fal'Cie may have put it on hold for the moment." Lightning replied bringing a casted hand to her chest, the place where her ticking time bomb resided.

"What fal'Cie branded you?" Cloud asked curious as to which God-like creature had put a time limit on his sister's life-no both his little sisters lives.

Lightning gave a shrug before answering. "Beats me, he never told me his name."

"Of course why would he." Cloud mused thinking about how the fal'Cie felt that they were superior to humans although the two races were meant to be brothers.

"Tell me about it. Stuck up pricks if you ask me." Lightning spat, but brought a hand to her throat as the volume her voice took caused her pain.

"Take it easy, get some sleep." Cloud told Lightning who turned and looked at him with something close to gratefulness in her eyes.

"Alright." Lightning said simply as she layed her head down on the pillow, while groaning in pain from the stinging hurt in her ribs and back.

* * *

"So how long you figure until she gets better?" Serah asked looking towards the door that led to Lightning's hospital room.

"She'll be bed ridden for a while. but it's nothing she won't recover from." Sazh answered turning to face the young eighteen year old.

"Yeah your right." Serah replied with a small smile as she looked back towards the room. "I think I'll go check on her." Serah stood from her seat on the bench and made her way over to

the door. Serah lightly wrapped her knuckles on the metallic door and entered upon hearing a low 'enter' from the other side. Opening the door Serah walked in and observed her sister

laying in bed with her eyes closed and her brother sitting in the chair next to the bed. Quietly taking the seat on the opposite side of Lightning's bed, Serah crossed her legs and took one

her sister's hands in her own. Confirming her suspicions, Lightning was fast asleep with a peaceful expression drawn across her face accompanied with a small smile touching her lips.

"So what did you guys talk about?" Serah asked not so much as to get an answer but more to break the silence that enveloped the room.

"Just some fal'Cie stuff." Cloud answered cryptically obviously trying not to upset the young girl.

"Hmm." Serah hummed still holding one of Lightning's casted hands. Minutes later her own fatigue caught up with her and she fell asleep resting her head on Lightning's stomach.

"Hmm." Serah awoke a few hours later to Lightning groan of pain, she quickly realized she was the cause of it and shot up in her seat. Opening her eyes Serah saw an amused Lightning

laying in the bed with a small smile directed towards her. Serah returned the smile with one of her own as she let Lightning's hand go and leaned back into her chair.

"How are you feeling?" She asked her injured sister in a soft voice.

"Pretty much the same as before, still groggy from the pain medication." Lightning answered in a soft whisper in an effort to avoid aggravating her sore throat.

Serah's only response was another smile and running her hand through her sister's soft strawberry blond hair, Lightning leaned into her touch with a sigh. It had been a while since

she was able to feel so safe, just knowing that Yaag had everything under control put her mind at ease. Lightning let out a sigh as Serah continued to pet her hair.

"Serah, you should go home and get some rest." Lightning spoke suddenly causing Serah to frown in response.

"Oh come on. I want to be here with you." The younger of the two shot back in a whining manner.

"I know I know." Lightning started raising her hands in front of her-the one that was handcuffed making a clanking sound along the rail of her bed-in an attempt to silence Serah for a

second. "But seriously, you can't get any good rest in this place." Lightning finished gazing around the room in which she noticed that Cloud was now absent.

"Oh come on! just share your bed with me." Serah answered with a smile.

"Believe me I would, but my back and ribs just kill from a slight movement. And sharing a bed with you!? haha come on Serah you know you squirm in your sleep. I would be in constant

pain." Lightning laughed grinning at her little sister. Serah pouted crossing her arms over her chest and puffing her bottom lip out.

"Please Lightning, I swear I'll be still." Serah whispered seriously, Lightning's eyes softened upon seeing how much her sister wanted to be with her.

"Um.." The blue eyed woman hesitated for a moment slightly biting down on her lower lip. Knowing she would regret this Lightning finished what she was going to say "Alright." She smiled

warmly. "Thank you." Serah replied softly as she helped Lightning slide over in the bed by placing her hands under her wounded sister's upper back, slightly lifting to reduce the pain

emitted from her back and ribs. Serah naturally let Lightning have the majority of the bed and sqeezed into the space that they vacated for her, giving Lightning a light hug Serah layed

down on her stomach as she rested her right arm over Lightning's upper body as the two quickly fell asleep.

* * *

"Where's that fool going?" Sazh asked as he watched Cloud start off down the hall of the hospital, with a hidden object clenched within his right hand.

"I'll go find out." Fang spoke as she left her position from leaning against the wall and started down after the blond man. "Hey!" The woman's accented voice called out but the man seemed

to ignore her as he continued around the corner. "Damm him!" Fang cursed under her breath as she started a slight jog to catch up with the spiky haired indivisual.

"What do you want?" Cloud questioned as Fang came to a stop behind him, the man still looked forward not bothering to turn around when he spoke to the woman.

"Isn't it obvious?" Fang frowned as she walked around him to face him head on.

"I'm going back to Pulse." The man said blankly as he looked into the tan woman's dark green eyes.

"Are you now?" Fang started sarcastically while throwing her hands in the air out of exasperation.

"Uh huh." Cloud nodded still looking the Pulse born woman in the eye.

"Like hell you are, you know damm well that Cocoon doesn't even allow their own citizens to leave this God forsaken place!" Fang yelled but quickly hushed as a few passing nurses gave

her some strange looks. "Relax we've both gone from Pulse to Cocoon before." Cloud said in an attempt for Fang to see reason with him.

"Yeah but now after Jihl becoming a l'Cie and nearly destroying all of Bodhum the security is going to be tighter than Lightning's ass which is pretty damm tight to begin with." Fang hissed

before frowning at the last statement that had left her mouth.

"What?" Cloud asked now confused with the woman.

"Never mind." Fang snapped quickly. "Just there's no way for you to get out of here and if you are able to, what makes you think you'll get back in?" Fang asked raising a brow.

"I can do more than you think." Was all Cloud said before starting down the hallway again.

"Well your not going alone I guess." Fang sighed before dropping in tow beside him.

"Do whatever you want." Cloud said as the two exited the hospital.

* * *

"I guess she's not coming back either." Vanille sighed plopping down on the bench. "Owww." She groaned rubbing her but afterward. "Why can't they make these things soft?"

"Because then it would cost some real money." Sazh answered leaning back on the bench.

"Yeah no kidding." Snow laughed as the group continued to sit on the benches that lined the hallway.

"Hey what exactly are we doing here?" Hope asked after a few moments.

"Isn't it obvious? were here to see Light." Snow said turning to face the boy.

"Then why are we sitting out here?" Hope asked back.

"Yeah let's go in there, I'm getting tired of waiting." Sazh said as he stood with the rest as they entered Lightning's hospital room. Stepping inside the group saw the exotic young woman

fast asleep with Serah in the bed with her, resting one arm over her. Sazh threw his arms up in the air with an incredulous look on his face.

"Are you kidding me? we were waiting outside while you two were in here sleeping?" The dark man asked as both Lightning and Serah awoke from there slumber.

"Sorry Sazh, you can go home now." Lightning spoke her voice barely above a whisper, which seemed to be her regular voice for the time being.

"Hmm I'm not sure I want to." Sazh replied, his mind going to his soon to be ex-wife Monique. Lightning smiled in response at how freely Sazh shared his feelings about his wife.

"Well you can't stay here. Seriously how am I supposed to get any sleep with you in the room?" Lightning asked smiling at the older man.

"What? can't take your eyes off me?" Sazh asked grinning but it turned to a frown as Lightning shook her head.

"No. Your just too loud." The younger girl answered "and so is Snow." She added turning to face the blond man.

"Hey I don't deny it." Snow spoke shrugging.

* * *

Fang and Cloud had managed to sneak into the Guardian Corps nearby facility and hot wire a small airship. The two took off and made for the hidden portal to Pulse.

"So what are you doing on Pulse again?" Fang asked as she sat down in the passenger seat of the airship.

"I'm doing something for Light." Cloud answered still not willingly telling the woman what.

"Does she know about it?" Fang asked knowing that Lightning would rather do a task herself then to place the burden on someone else.

"No." Was the spiky haired man's short answer.

"Well tell me at least. I mean I'm going with you aren't I?" Fang asked crossing her arms over her chest. In response Cloud dug into his pocket and tossed an object over to the Oerba.

"A crystal? what does Light need you to do with this?" The raven haired woman asked frowning at the object while turning it in all directions thoroughly examining it.

"I need to give it to someone." Cloud answered making Fang's eyes go wide.

"No! you idiot then she would turn to crystal!" Fang yelled at the man, her voice laced with panic.

"You'd rather her go Cie'th?" Cloud asked turning to face her.

"NO of course not! it's just that there has to be a way to get rid of these brands...and I don't want to see her turn into a crystal either. I like her the way she is." Fang whispered afraid of

losing one of her best friends, if not her best friend all together. She had grown real close to Lightning since she had met her, even more close then she is with Vanille.

"Well it's either one way or the other that she can go." Cloud spoke trying to convince the woman beside him.

"Bull shit give her time! her brand still has a long way to go." Fang told him while turning her head away from the blond man to look out the window across the vast sky.

Upon the tan woman's falling silent, Cloud glanced at her and stared for a little while before a question came to his head.

"Are you really twenty-five?" he asked taking in her appearance. In response Fang turned and took a quick glance at his eyes before looking back out the window.

"Your not are you?" Cloud asked but it was more of a statement then a question.

"No I'm not." Fang replied quietly while scratching the back of her head.

"How old are you then?" Cloud asked now curious to find the woman's actual age.

"Physically, twenty-one but in all actuality..." Fang cleared her throat before turning to face the man "about five hundred and twenty-one."

"Hmm so you've been crystallized before?" Cloud asked to which Fang nodded "well your not actually five hundred and twenty-one years old since when your in crystal stasis you don't age.

Or really live for that matter, so be actually be that old I believe you would have to experience three hundred and sixty-five days a year not sleep through them. Your twenty-one, your

young." Cloud gave Fang a small pep talk to which she smiled at.

"Nice to know I'm not an old lady." She chuckled lightly. "I just don't want Light to go through the transition of becoming a crystal then waking up. It's awful knowing that your alone in a

world that you don't even know. Luckily for me I had Vanille and she had me. But if you go through with this your risking that Lightning will be alone in a whole new different world one day."

"I know, but I don't want to see her turn into a monster." Cloud whispered "so Vanille was crystallized too?" He changed the subject after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah. And she's not seventeen, she just looks it." Fang replied tapping her fingers on the dashboard of the ship.

"So you two just picked some fake ages to go by?" Cloud asked.

"It's stupid I know." Fang replied shaking her head.

"Hmm I'm surprised you went with an age older than you actually are." Cloud mused out loud.

"Yeah so am I."

"So Cid's not your brother than?" Cloud asked turning to face the young woman.

"No. Me and Vanille were lost once we awoke in this world and he took us in. We actually are living in his house. And Vanille is not my cousin, we only said that we were cousins so we could

keep our full names with the Oerba still in there." Fang explained as she continued to gaze out of the window before noticing that they had gone through the portal and were now currently

on Pulse. "I know I wouldn't want to abandon my surname." Cloud said as he pulled the airship down onto a patch of land.

"Why here?" Fang asked as the duo stepped out from the airship. Looking across the landscape this certain area seemed to be dead compared to the rest of Pulse. It was not green as the

ground was brown with no grass growing at all. There were cliffs surrounding the whole area and it was at this moment that Fang realized that the only way in was to climb them, but Cloud

had expertly landed the airship inside the rather large alcove devoid of life.

"Well isn't this lovely." Fang stated sarcastically as she took a few steps across the barren plain. "You never answered me." She said looking over her shoulder at the blond man.

"Something tells me that this is the place that Light was supposed to come to with the crystal." Cloud told her as came to a stop beside the woman.

"So your gonna turn your sister into a rock without hesitation?" Fang asked not bothering to look at the man.

"Just drop it alright?" Cloud asked as Fang just shook her head at him and looked the other way.

"At least there won't be any monsters down here." She stated gazing around the dead place. The two made there way over to what looked like a pedestal like platform.

"Here it is." Cloud said as he ran his hand over the imprint that layed upon the old pedestal.

"Of course here _it _is I shoulda known." Fang said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Be quiet." Cloud muttered as he placed the crystal into the engraving. As soon as he pressed down on the object the ground started to shake as the ground seem to drain down into itself

like some kind of drainage ditch. Looking down the pair saw a staircase emerge as the ground sank down below it, with a shrug Fang started down the steps towards the dark cave that

awaited them. They walked for what seemed for a while down the staircase, Fang took this opportunity to take in the intricate designs that were crafted expertly into the stone walls that

encircled the narrow staircase. The designs upon the walls resembled the carving that Fang and Lightning had discovered in the hidden tunnel that layed under the destroyed village.

They all depicted the young strawberry blond woman battling some unknown fal'Cie. Something deep in Fang's mind told her that whatever Cloud had planned would not work, no matter

how hard he tried. Reaching the bottom of the staircase Fang casted a low-level fire spell onto one of the unlit torches which lined the dark hallway. The fire illuminated the corridor which

revealed that the ground was no longer dirt but a finely polished marble floor, with a large mural upon it in the center of the small cavern. The mural sent chills down Fang's spine as it was

now doubt in her mind that the young strawberry blond was indeed Lightning. No one else had those piercing blue eyes, hair style and beautiful looks and body. The resemblance between

the mural drawing and the living girl was striking. As if the most gifted painter had made this work of art. The mural showed Lightning battling a strange entity, although something was off

about the drawing, it took a Fang a couple moments but she realized that the sword that Lightning held in her right hand was not her Blazefire Saber but a jagged sword with multiple

points, a total of five altogether. The blade of the sword was black while the hilt and a little up from it was silver, the bottom of the sword where it was held was black with a few points

protruding from it. The sword however still seemed to be a gunblade model as it featured the same mechanisms from Lightning's Blazefire Saber. Looking to her right Fang saw one word

inscribed on the wall "Omega" frowning the woman turned back to gaze at the mural. The shape and appearance of the entity that the strawberry blond was fighting was obscured by an

odd mist making it impossible to tell whether it was a known fal'Cie or not. Lightning's expression did not settle well with Fang for the young woman had a look of complete sorrow and

loathing on her face this forced an unsettling feeling into Fang's stomach. Along the bottom of the ancient picture showed many small and large spiders scattered around the battlefield

with a giant spider head watching over the battle with a wicked grin upon it's face. It's many eyes shining an ominous blood red a complete look only described by the word demonic.

"Well this is lovely." Fang muttered as she visibly shivered at the sight of the drawing. Something in Fang's senses and sub conscious told her that she has been here before but she

drew a blank upon attempting to remember the time and reasons she had been here. Shaking her head Fang turned to see that Cloud showed no signs of paying attention to the mural

as he walked as he walked over said drawing which was engraved into the marble floor. The man began to examine the back wall of the small chamber, he seemed to be searching for

something and found it shortly after as he placed the blue crystal into a small groove. Fang shrugged following him but soon stopped as the back wall started to shake violently throwing

the dust from it's corners. The stone wall slowly moved back now revealing what seemed to be another world. A warm blast of air rushed into the small chamber as if the entrance was a

straw sucking all of it inside of the small place. The hot air forced Fang and Cloud to cover their faces from the ferocious onslaught until it seized to do so. Uncovering her eyes Fang looked

through the newly formed opening, taking in the environment before her. The air was thick with a substance resembling smog along with very thick grey fog obscuring the view of anything

past five feet in front of one's self. A strange mist was added into the mix of ingredients present in the air making it difficult to see and breath. The ground was molten rock with small

streaks of lava flowing through the many cracks which stretched through out the withered barren ground. Just ahead of them the pair could see burnt up and shriveled trees which were

once a vibrant green but now the clor of coal as they had begun the slow process of crumbling to the ground. The sky was pitch black in color with some mixed in gray that Fang guessed

to be clouds. Lightning bolts streaked across the sky but made no sound as they ominously flashed brightly, producing what little light was present in the barren wasteland.

"Is it even safe to go in there?" Fang asked turning to face Cloud who did not respond as he slowly stepped into the foreign land without any hesitation. Fang sighed and followed the

man into the terrible place where life seemed impossible to bloom. As soon as she stepped in it felt as if the gravity had been turned up several notches as the raven haired woman's

eyes began to close as she tiredly tried to keep them open but to no avail. With a shake of her head Fang gave herself a smack to the side of her head to wake herself up from her

incoming sleep. _It's as if this place sucks the life right out of you _she thought as the two continued walking through the dark place. Up ahead a volcano erupted, spewing lava and molten

rock high into the air. Fang groaned, as if on cue the sky started to rain meteors down beating into the ground with brute force. Continuing on the pair found it easier to walk the more

time they spent in the place, ten minutes later they stumbled upon what looked like an old ancient temple which had not been touched in a good while. Cloud started up the steps while

Fang stayed behind staring at the large building. It took a few moments but she finally got hold of her senses again, the tan woman quickly ran up the stairs and placed herself between

Cloud and the door. "What are you doing?" He asked watching the woman closely.

Fang let out a sigh before answering "stopping you from doing this." She told him as she drew her lance from it's resting place upon her back.

"If that's how it has to be." Cloud said as he drew his large sword from it's holster and readied it, the tip of the blade facing the young woman. Fang sighed again clearly reluctant about

the actions she were about to do. Fang lunged at the man with a swift swipe of her lance, Cloud parried this knocking the woman's weapon away and bringing down his own in an

attempt to hurt the woman. Fang brought her lance back up and blocked the incoming attack, kneeing the man in the gut Fang flipped over him and brought the end of her lance down

upon his head. Cloud fell to the floor holding his head, looking up he saw the woman already up in the air poised to finish him off. At the last second he was able to roll out of the way

of her powerful attack. Cloud brought Fang's legs out from under her with a swift sweep kick, the woman did a back flip and landed on her feet bringing her lance across the man's face

leaving a streak of blood in it's wake. Cloud gritted his teeth as he took a swing at the warrior in which Fang blocked and slid back a few feet. Cloud rushed towards the raven haired

beauty and leaped into the air, Fang spun off to the side and kicked Cloud's exposed back causing him to fall down the stairs with a loud thud. Following him down the stairs Fang leapt

up high into the air preparing her Highwind attack to finish him off. Spinning her lance in her fingers Fang swiftly came down the air pounding her in the face causing her eyes to water.

Cloud looked up and saw the woman about to come down on him, spinning his sword twice a blue aura surrounded it. In one swift motion he cut cleanly through the air causing a blue

energy beam to disperse from his sword which shot up into the sky and connected with the incoming Fang. With a cry Fang fell back and landed hard on the ground no doubt bruising

her ribs internally. Groaning Fang lookded up to see Cloud standing over her. Grinning the woman pressed her advantage as a l'Cie and threw a ruin spell at the man, the small white ball

of energy connecting causing Cloud to flinch and give Fang an opening to escape her predicament. Landing a spinning kick on the man's spiky head Fang brought the pole of her lance

into his stomach making the man hunch over in pain. Fang flipped over the blond man and brought her and down in a chopping motion down on his exposed neck but Cloud caught her

arm and flipped her over him before she could land the attack. Fang scrambled to her feet and brought her lance up just in time to block the incoming attack from her opponent, their

weapons caught in a fight for dominance with neither willing to back down from the other. Fang managed to slip her lance under Cloud's large sword and push him back following it

up with a kick to the stomach knocking him down onto his behind. Fang took this opportunity and summoned forth her crystal from her l'Cie brand and threw it into the air slicing

through the fragile crystal with ease. The sky turned even darker as storm clouds appeared overhead along with a runic design, Fang's eidolon Bahamut flew through the design

shattering it with ease which cased the sound of breaking glass to fill the air. Fang sighed and looked down to the ground as her eidolon hovered above her awaiting her command.

"Just stop." The young woman whispered her voice filled with sorrow. "Stop trying to play the hero, let Lightning do what she wants. If she wants to be a slave and deliver this crystal

then let her do it herself. Let her make her own life choices, sure she's young but she isn't naive." Fang whispered just loud enough for the blond man across from her to hear.

"All's I'm trying to do is protect her." Cloud responded climbing to his feet.

"And that will get you killed." Fang shot back throwing a glance over her shoulder at her eidolon.

"Maybe but I don't care. I'd rather die helping her gain eternal life then live and watch her turn Cie'th when I could have helped her." Cloud explained hastily.

Fang closed her eyes and made no move to respond, she simply waved her hand and Bahamut excused himself from battle. Suddenly Fang felt a tremendous ringing sound in her ears.

Bringing her hands to her head Fang fell to one knee with her eyes squeezed shut. A few moments later the woman opened her eyes and looked around to find that she was no longer

at the entrance to the temple but in a other realm that was nothing but black all around in all directions, feeling a presence Fang raised her head Fang looked but saw nothing. The

darkness hid the entity although Fang could tell that it was a large creature which wielded great power that no human could even dream of holding in their own hands.

"That fool wants to try and help? then let him. I would love to teach this inferior creature a lesson." A voice resonated from the darkness, it was deep demonic and held power and

authority. "W-what?" Fang questioned frowning hoping her yes would adjust to the dark so she would be able to see the entity.

"Step down young one, let me take it from here." The voice responded.

"Take what?" Fang asked before letting out an ear splitting scream and falling forward unconscious. Cloud looked down with confusion written across his face as he watched Fang sceam

out in pain before dropping unconscious. Kneeling down he placed a hand on the younger girl's back as he whispered a small 'I'm sorry' before moving on. As soon as he placed a hand

on the knob of the doors that led to the temple, the building began to shake a little before slowly dissipating into mid air.

"What was that all about?" Cloud asked himself as he started his trek down into the more barren land. With a look over his shoulder he felt a bit guilty for leaving Fang behind in an

unconscious state but felt a bit better as Fang's eidolon Bahamut reappeared out of shear will to look over it's master. After walking for a good ten minutes Cloud came across what

looked to be a demonic gate that seemed to reach the heaven's themselves. The gate had several eyes that surrounded the small groove that was no doubt intended for the small crystal,

several stray body parts were spread all over the gate causing Cloud to cringe from the disgusting sight before him. The man stepped forward and placed the crystal into it's resting

place in the gate. The gate shook and slowly opened up with a loud creaking sound and groans of despair, Cloud stepped in and instantly noticed the large shadow at the end of the

enclosed area. Approaching the large figure, Cloud stopped ten feet away from it. The smell was too horrible to go any closer and it was smarter to be a good distance away from one's foe.

"Welcome." The voice boomed as visible saliva dripped from what Cloud guessed to be it's mouth. "To Gran Pulse my loyal servant. Although I haven't branded you."

"I'm here on behalf of my sister." Cloud told the entity fiercely.

"But why? she has already been here." The being informed with a chuckle.

"Bull shit, she's laying up in a hospital bed, unable to even stand!" Cloud spat at the large creature.

"Hahaha foolish insolent servant do you not know who your talking too?" the being let out a loud laugh.

"It doesn't matter." Cloud shot back although his curiosity was peaked on what this creature was.

"Hahaha, my name is ******* and you shall know death!" the entity shouted as the light dawned upon it to reveal that it was a giant spider, the same spider from the mural. The same

fal'Cie Lightning had been seeing in her dreams for the past while. Cloud stared wide eyed up at the being now wishing that he had head Fang's warning and just turned back. Shaking

the doubt from his mind Cloud drew his sword and prepared for battle.

"Now I shall show you your sister and see if your mind is strong enough to persevere." Suddenly a thick mist appeared and surrounded the fal'Cie and when it cleared Lightning was

standing there with her Blazefire Saber drawn and ready for battle. Lightning moved swiftly in jumping forward and kicking Cloud's sword out of his hands, Cloud rolled away and

retrieved his sword. Looking up Cloud noticed that the woman's eyes were glazed over, meaning she was either being controlled or not his little sister however no matter how hard

the man tried he could not bring himself to hurt her. Just the small chance of it being the real Lightning was enough to stay his blade _no this can't be the real Lightning, she can't even _

_stand right now _Cloud thought as he forced himself to his feet and brought his sword up to his chest. Lightning jumped towards him again and their blades caught in a fight for

dominance, Cloud easily overpowered her but as he brought his sword down Lightning back flipped and kicked his sword from his hand. Landing gracefully Lightning looked up to face

Cloud, her hair falling over her eyes obscuring them from view once more casting a shadow over her beautiful eyes. Lightning seemed weaker though a sure sign that it was not his

little sister over there trying to kill him by force of a fal'Cie. Cloud refused to take his sword and fight for some unknown reason he couldn't do it. Maybe it was what Fang said about

letting Lightning make her own decisions in life. "What's wrong? can you not do one simple task for your fal'Cie?" The fal'Cie asked with anger in it's voice.

"Your not my fal'Cie." Cloud responded staring into "Lightning's" eyes which were still glazed over and lacked the spark and piercing look that they always carried.

"Hahaha like it matters I can take your life in an instant." The entity chuckled and shook it's head.

"I would have to see it to believe it." Cloud sneered at the beast becoming more irritated with the superior being.

"Hahahahahahahaha." The entity's voice changed into a more child like demeanor as it laughed, the sound driving a shiver up Cloud's spine. He watched as

the fal'Cie transformed from that of a giant spider to something that Cloud could not see for a shroud of grey mist enshrouded the thing.

"Watch what you wish for, but it is quite clear that you choose the path of oblivion!" The fal'Cie shouted as it shot out a grey arm like appendage from behind the mist, the hand clenched

a fist flew at Cloud with blinding speed and in a few seconds went right through the unsuspecting man's stomach and clean out the other side. Stealing Cloud's final breath from him.

* * *

Well I finally got the Omega Weapon! it took forever, but it was better than fighting those stupid Admatoise's :P and many thanks to Pulse99 for Beta reading this I strongly recommend reading his story Atonement and Revenge it's awesome =D


	18. Chapter 17: Lightning and Serah

SPOILER warning since I'm now switching to Lightning's real name

Sisterly Love Chapter 17: Lightning and Serah

Fang awoke with a groan as she sat up expecting to be in her nice warm bed but on the contrary awoke on the hot molten rock ground. Slowly climbing to her feet Fang looked over

her shoulder to see Bahamut there standing guard for her.

"Hey there." She greeted with a smile before dismissing the eidolon from further duty, the Oerba made her way back to where the temple should have been although it wasn't.

"Bloody hell how long was I out?" Fang asked herself jokingly while shaking her head, continuing on the young woman happened upon a large gate that was opened a bit so someone

could fit inside. "Shit!" Fang swore as she just realized that Cloud could have already completed his task and turned her best friend to crystal. Rushing through the gate Fang was met

withthe scene of an enshrouded entity and a man laying on the ground with a gaping hole through his stomach and.......Lightning standing over him?

"What the hell?" Fang muttered as she rushed forward simultaneously drawing her lance from her back. Coming to a stop Fang knelt down beside Cloud and looked up to see "Lightning"

disappear into thin air. _'An illusion' _Fang thought shaking her head before turning her attention back to the man who she was currently cradling in her arms. He wasn't breathing, Fang's

breath caught in her throat as she stared wide eyed at the now dead man. But she wasn't going to give up without doing anything, in a desperate attempt to revive her best friend's

big brother Fang casted multiple cure, curaga, curasa and curaja spells but to no avail as the magic had no affect on him. She was too late.

"Hahaha." The fal'Cie chuckled slowly as the mist evaporated into thin air revealing it to be back into the shape of the monstrous spider.

"You bastard." Fang whispered as she hung her head low anger bubbling in her bloodstream. Standing slowly the warrior woman took her spear in hand and readied herself for whatever

the spider could throw at her. "Now now child relax. I already told you to let me teach this one a lesson." The fal'Cie spoke smugly a small smile forming on it's ugly face.

"I'll kill you." Fang threatened glaring at the beast.

"Hahamay I ask how? I can control you with a snap of my fingers." the fal'Cie spoke as one of it's legs transformed into a long arm and it snapped it's fingers before turning back.

Fang gave a disgusted look before as she stared horrified at the high level entity.

"Now child it is far past your bedtime. Be a good girl and go to sleep." And with those words the same ringing returned to Fang's ears rendering the woman defenseless as she fell to her

knees, holding her hands to her head in an attempt to shield herself from the brutal onslaught upon her ears. In mere seconds the Oerba had passed out before the beast.

* * *

Lightning awoke with a start, her chest heaving as she took deep gulps of air as she tried to fill her lung capacity as the nightmare she had just witnessed left her breathless and terrified.

"Lightning?" Serah asked, worry evident in her voice.

"Yes Serah?." Lightning responded breathlessly, her eyes still wide with terror.

"What's wrong?" Her little sister asked placing a hand on her arm in an effort to calm the young woman.

"Nothing Serah, I just had a nightmare." Lightning answered taking deep breath to help calm herself. It took a few minutes but she was finally able to relax although her mind never stopped.

"Really? you seem pretty shaken up about it. Wanna talk?" Serah asked smiling warmly. Lightning gazed around the hospital room before remembering that their friends had gone home the

night before. After relentless pushing for them to go home by Lightning of course, it had been a couple of days since then with their friends making daily visits to check on the young woman.

"Ummmno it's alright." Lightning dismissed the topic with a wave of her hand (the one that is not handcuffed to the bed).

"Lightniiiiiiiing." Serahsaid crossing her arms over her chest with a look that said 'weren't you supposed to be opening up to me more?' Lightning sighed before cracking under her sister's

pressure. "Fine." She breathed closing her eyes gathering her thoughts of how to tell Serah.

"Take your time." Serahsaid quickly upon seeing her sister's difficulty with beginning the explanation.

"Thanks." Lightning whispered, a few minutes later she started telling of how vivid and lifelike the dream had been withhowCloud and Fang fought one another. And finally finishing with

how Cloud had died by the hand of the fal'Cie who has been haunting her dreams for a while now. Despite telling her sister it was just a dream, she knew deep down in her heart and

mind that it was in fact real. "Um it's just a dream Light don't worry about it alright?" Sera asked to which Lightning nodded. "Plus I think your just losing your mind being cooped up in here

for the last little while. Say we go somewhere nice for the day huh? just you and me." Serah offered to which Lightning frowned.

"Um where do you want to go?" She asked eyeing Serah skeptically.

"I don't know let me think......say how about we go to Lake Bresha?" Serah asked her eyes lighting up at the thought of spending a day at the beautiful lake with her sister.

"Lake Bresha? sure haven't been there in a while." Lightning shrugged as Serah jumped with joy.

"Yes this is going to be so fun!" She grinned at her sister before getting up and digging into the drawers of the near by cabinet. Pulling out Lightning's clothes she tossed them over to the

blue eyed woman. "Um Serah?" Lightning asked as she motioned to her right wrist which was still handcuffed to the bed rail.

"Oh yeah." The younger girl said as she took out the key to the silver restraint device and unlocked them, freeing her sister's arm. Lightning stood with a little difficulty as a dull pain still

resonated in her back, and proceeded to get dressed. She slipped off the hospital gown and put on her short skirt-she had to ask Serah to do up the belt-then she put on her sleeveless

turtleneck shirt which only reached a little below her breasts. Zipping it up the strawberry blond put on her white sleeveless coat. Lightning looked down at the articles of clothing that

she could not use and shrugged, taking her red bag that she normally wore on her left thigh she proceeded to unzip it's many pouches and load in her black sleeve which she normally

wore on her left arm, gloves, and armband. "Whoa whoa whoa!" Serah exclaimed stopping Lightning from putting the last accessory into the bag.

"What?" Lightning asked in confusion as Serah motioned to her own right arm.

"Remember we got these together so we would always be wearing one thing that looked alike? they were a matching set! one can't wear one without the other doing so!" Serah stated as

she placed armband on Lightning's right bicep just a little above the elbow and secured it in place.

"Oh sorry Serah." Lightning muttered as she picked up her green Guardian Corps armor plate. With a shrug she put it into the bag and slung the red material over her right shoulder.

Sitting down she allowed Serah to put on her boots and do them up for her. Lightning smiled and offered a 'thanks' to Serah as the two sisters headed for the door. Stepping out into the

hall Serah initiated a conversation with her sister. "Hey Lightning why do you wear a cape?" Serah asked as the two made their way down the quiet desolate hallway.

"You don't remember?" Lightning asked a bit surprised that her sister would forget the reasoning behind her cape.

"Um...yeah sorry." Serah smiled sheepishly as she looked up into her sister's eyes.

"Well back when I first joined the Guardian Corps you were still just a kid and like most kids you enjoyed cartoons. So when I told you what my job entailed you got all excited because

in your eyes I was a superhero just like the ones from your shows. So you suggested I wear a cape...and so I did and still do because it helps me remember all the good times we had

even through the bad of today." Lightning explained the reasoning behind her cape.

"Oh yeah...I remember now...thanks Claire." Serah smiled as she looked up at Lightning. "And you are still my superhero, always will be."

Lightning threw her head back with soft laughter. "That I will." She responded as they reached the elevator. Reaching the ground level, the sisters made their way to the front door and

stepped out into the street for the first time in quite a while. Walking over to Lightning's car, Serah took the driver seat which made the older of the two a little uneasy seeing how Serah

was never too good a driver. Let's just say you won't be seeing her on the Eden Race Circuit any time soon. Lightning groaned in pain she she slowly slid into the passenger seat, the

action causing a small bit of pain in her back and ribs. Serah glanced over at her witha sorry look on her face, sad that Lightning had to endure such pain. Lightning took her breaths in

tight short gasps the reason being if she breathed normally it would pain her ribs around her heart far to greatly.

"Lightning I don't think your ready to go outside and do stuff." Serah said, her tone laced with worry.

"I'm fine Serah, come on let's go to Lake Bresha." Lightning forced a smile as her breath hitched in her chest.

"Alright, but were stopping by the house to bandage you up." Serah said as she turned the keys in the ignition starting the car up.

"Yeah yeah." Lightning rolled her eyes only to wince in pain as her eyes flared up and started to water. 'Dammit." Lightning cursed under her breath as she wiped them swiftly.

Serah pulled out of the parking lot roughly driving over the curb making Lightning wince from the stinging pain in her ribs.

"Dammit Serah!" She yelled as she held them in a attempt to decrease the pain.

"Sorry! sorry! but this is how I drive! I know I'm not that good, sorry sis." Serah said quickly as she slowed and pulled into the right side lane as they headed to their home.

Ten minutes later they pulled into the driveway of their home. As expected Snow's hover bike was parked on the adjacent street, as he was watching over the house for the girls while

they were at the hospital. Parking the car and climbing out, Serah went over to the passenger side and helped her sister out. The two made their way to the front door and entered

after Serah unlocked the door. "Snow!" She called out into the quiet house, seconds later said man's heavy footsteps could be heard thundering down the stairs.

"Hey Serah, hey Light." He smiled as he came to a stop in front of the young women, a big grin plastered on his face.

"Can you set up the futon for Light?" She asked before turning and putting a hand on Lightning's arm. "We'll go to Lake Breshatomorrow alright? I think you could use another day of rest."

"Fine." Lightning sighed before carefully laying down on the futon Snow had prepared. "Thanks." She muttered before closing her eyes and falling into a waking dream.

* * *

"Arrrgh." Fang groaned as her senses returned to her, the throbbing in her head caused her to grit her teeth angrily before opening her eyes. Much to the young woman's dismay she was

still in Gran Pulse, the corroding trees now blazing with an intense flame. Rolling onto her side Fang looked up to see the fal'Cie in it's spot from before smiling down at her. Climbing to

her feet Fang drew her lance prepared for what the beast would throw at her. The fal'Cie raised it's front four legs and a bright white emanated in front of the outstretched legs. A few

seconds later the light burst forward and ceased to remain as a dark figure emerged from the light. Fang's eyes widened as the shadow concealing the figure evaporated into the air

with a great flash of a brilliant blue light. "Cid?" Fang asked her frown deepening as she realized who the man was. Cid didn't answer, he simply continued to stare through her. Fang

took a few steps forward but the man raised his hand which halted her movements. On the back of his right hand was a glowing mark, a mark of the l'Cie.

"Your a 'lCie?" Fang asked lowering her guard as her lance fell to her side. "Oh I see it was him wasn't it?" She asked flicking her head in the spider's direction.

"More or less." Was Cid's curt reply before a crystal dust started to swirl in the air surrounding him in all it's shimmering glory, a few seconds of the substance coating his body Cid let

out a loud cry of power as his physical appearance changed. Jagged crystals now protruded from his back, arms, and head. The upper half of his clothes were torn while the lower

half remained untouched. His hands turned into giant crystals and looked as though they could pack a punch, his abdomen was also frozen to crystal and giant crystal wings now protruded

from his back. His stature seemed to grow more much like a Cie'th does and he had a killer look in his eyes something told Fang that this wasn't the Cid she knew.

"Cid what the hell are y-" The young woman never finished her sentence as she was met with a punch to the gut, as in her previous analysis he could pack quite the punch. Her rib cage

rattling Fang fell to one knee with one hand brought to her stomach while the other wielded her lance. Groaning in pain Fang stood and was able to block the next attack, just managing

to get her lance up in time. The shock of such force sent her sliding across the rocky ground as the Oerba struggled to keep her footing. Cid rushed again but missed as Fang jumped over

him bringing her lance down and carving a streak down the entire length of his back. The man screamed in pain as he whirled around and threw a spinning kick that Fang ducked and

responded by smashing her lance into the Brigadier General's stomach. Cid only smiled in response seemingly unaffected by the powerful blow. Grabbing Fang by her raven maine of hair

Cid lifted the woman up off the ground. Fang flailed her legs desperately in an attempt at kicking the man in the face, Cid knocked her weapon from her hand sending it sliding across the

molten ground. Just as the man was about to deliver a punch that would no doubt shatter the bones in her face the far off volcano erupted once more shaking the ground violently as

more meteors spewed from the dark sky smashing into the ground with brute force. Cid dropped Fang as he lost his footing from the violent shaking of the earth beneath him, rolling

to her right Fang grabbed her lance and brought it back up to her chest to block another incoming attack from Cid who quickly recovered. Countering with an attack of her own Fang

drew blood from the little remaining parts of Cid's body that was still human. Cid swiped at her with his over sized hand but the nimble Fang rolled out of harms reach as it sailed over her

head. Fang took the man's legs out from under him with a swift sweep kick, pressing her advantage the raven haired woman jumped high into the air twirling her lance in her hand she

descended with great speed delivering a fatal blow to Cid's chest. With her lance stuck deep into the man's chest Fang stood over him panting from the effort it took to perform such an

attack. Suddenly an explosion of crystal dust burst forth from the wound sending the exotic woman backwards flying through the air, landing roughly Fang rolled several feet before

stopping. Black dots flickered across her vision as Fang was close to falling unconscious, blinking her eyes rapidly she attempted to sit up but fell back down due to lack of strength.

Fang helplessly looked up as Cid came into her view grinning evily as he looked down at her.

* * *

"Ah!" Lightning cried as she once more awoke from a nightmare, immediately wincing in pain from her sudden action she brought a hand to her injured ribs.

"Hey sis did you have a nightmare?" Snow asked looking down at her from the couch to the right.

"Snow?...uh yeah." Lightning said as she carefully sat up as to not agrivate her injured body parts. "Where's Serah?" Lightning asked after being unable to locate her missing sister.

"Oh she's upstairs doing.....I don't know exactly." Snow admitted with a shrug.

"That's so unlike you. Normally you would be all over her right about now." Lightning said turning to face the man.

"What! no, I have self control!" Snow objected loudly sitting up from his lounging position on the couch.

"Riiight sure you do." Lightning rolled her eyes at the older man.

"Serah!" Snow called out to his fiance, seconds later the young girl appeared at the top of the stairs.

"What?" She called down to the man whom she adored.

"Lightning's being mean to me!" Snow called back up to her his voice cracking slightly which prompted a few chuckles out of Lightning.

"Oh please your probably just being an idiot again!" Serah called back down although she was obviously joking.

"Serah get down here." Snow yelled causing Lightning to roll her eyes.

"If you want to talk to her just get your lazy ass up and I don't know _walk_ over to her." Lightning said crossing her casted arms over her chest.

"No way Light are you crazy? walking is way out of style." Snow joked as Serah entered the room taking a seat beside her sister.

"What do you want?" Serah asked crossing her right leg over the left.

"I want you to be here to see how mean your sister is being to her big brother." Snow fake pouted as Lightning once more rolled her eyes at the behemoth of a man

Lightning looked over at Serah before answering. "How can I _not _make fun of him?" She asked incredulously.

"I don't blame you." Serah answered smiling playfully.

"Hey!" Snow yelled faking hurt.

"Uhh Snow?" Lightning asked a little timid which immediately brought the other two people in the room to a more serious state of mind for Lightning was far from timid.

"Yeah Light." Snow said his voice considerable quieter now.

"Umm have you seen Fang or Cloud around lately?" She asked her face written with worry.

"Uh no they left to go...somewhere I don't know exactly." Snow answered wondering what had the younger girl so worried.

"Shit!" Lightning spoke harshly as she went to stand up only to have both Serah and Snow push and hold her down on the futon.

"Whoa Light relax!" Snow yelled as Lightning struggled in their hold.

"No." Lightning yelled back but soon gave up after a bit of writhing in their grasp, breathing heavily the young woman ceased to struggle so the two released her.

"What's wrong sis?" Serah asked putting her hand on Lightning's shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze.

"Nothing it's just....I've been having nightmares." Lightning muttered looking up to meet Serah's worried gaze.

"About what?" Serah asked again sounding very motherly, she would no doubt make a great mother some day.

"Um..well." Lightning stalled and gave Snow a look, not exactly an angry one but he caught the hint and excused himself from the room.

"Well...I'm gonna uh go...and eat something." Snow stuttered before quickly rushing from the room.

"Thanks Snow." Lightning muttered low enough so he wouldn't hear.

"What are you dreaming about Claire?" Serah asked giving her a hug before she could answer.

"Well I've had two dreams so far and....and well in the first uh Cloud kinda died." Lightning said as her face took on a look of both fear and sorrow.

"Don't worry Claire I'm sure it's just a dream nothing to worry about." Serah said trying to convince her sister who was now shaking slightly in her hold.

"You don't understand Serah...it was just so real. Like I was there but not at the same time sort of like an apparition." Lightning explained resting her head on Serah's shoulder.

"Hmm you just have a very vivid imagination Light." Serah said smiling sadly at her. "Now tell me about this next dream." Serah asked softly.

"The next time I fell asleep well I dreamed that Fang was fighting Cid after she tried valiantly to save Cloud." Lightning explained.

"See it is just a dream Cid's dead." Serah said pointing her finger at her sister.

"Cid's dead!?" Lightning asked surprised at this new bit of information she had just received.

"Uh yeah it was on the news." Serah answered frowning at the fact that Lightning did not know yet.

"Oh." Lightning responded her voice both very soft and quiet. Serah could tell that she was mourning Cid's death despite what he had tried to do to her. Lightning was actually I really kind

person inside. Serah felt a few tears drop onto her shoulder prompting her to tighten her grip around her sister pulling her closer as Lightning began to openly sob outright.

"It's alright Claire." Serah consoled rubbing Lightning's back as she felt the sorrow transfer from her sister to herself. Serah never really knew the man except those good memories years

ago when both Lightning and Cid worked for the Guardian Corps. Serah and Lightning cried together while Snow stood watching from the doorway.

* * *

Cid swung down with his fist with extreme force, Fang was able to roll out of the way causing the man's fist to get stuck in the ground. Fang pressed her advantage swinging her lance

multiple times and landing all of her attacks with great power. Cid cried out in pain as he continued to try and tear his large hand from the ground, Fang continued to assault the man

sensing that the end was near the young woman jumped up into the air to perform her Highwind maneuver and finish the man off. However on her way down Cid got his arm lose and

landed a punch that combined with the gravity of the falling girl packed quite the punch knocking Fang senseless. The fluffy haired woman was seeing stars as her world spun as she

tumbled to the ground. It seemed just one hit from Cid was enough to knock her senseless, Fang growled in frustration as she clambered to her feet, her knees wobbled as she struggled

to even stand up. Lifting her head Fang saw Cid charging towards her again, it seemed the man had never ending stamina as he was always recharged and ready for more every time she

took her eyes off of him. Fang brought her lance up, steered Cid to the side and gave him a large gash in the back of his knee. Smirking with her landed attack Fang performed a roundhouse

kick landing it on his right temple. Cid crumpled to the ground and Fang stabbed her lance deep into the small of his back, Cid ground his teeth together as the pain flared in his back.

Cid was impressed with how talented Fang was at fighting she was both powerful and pretty quick, although she was not as talented as Lightning nobody can match that young woman's

mix of strength, magic, and speed and agility. Cid let out a battle cry as he quickly climbed to his feet with Fang still holding her lance firmly in his back despite Fang's extra weight pressing

down on his back he stood and flung her over his shoulder and off of his back. Fang growled as she flipped in mid air and landed gracefully on her feet as she was now unarmed. Cid began

sprinting towards her, once he was about five feet in front of her the Oerba quickly tossed a ruinga spell at him, it exploded just as he ran into the middle of it going to fast to stop.

The spell caused Cid to be thrown up into the air knocking Fang's bladed lance from it's place in his back. Fang didn't hesitate in rushing forward and collecting her weapon that has been

with her for generations. As Cid stood the tan woman hoisted it up onto her shoulder and tossed it like a javelin piercing clear through his left shoulder. As soon as Cid recoiled the

raven haired woman ran forward and drop kicked him where her lance protruded from his shoulder sending the man back with a loud thud. Fang jumped on top of Cid and started to pound

on him with her fists repeatedly drawing blood as her anger took over for both what he tried to do to her best friend Lightning and for his trying to kill her through out this entire fight. She

seemed to block out all he had done for her though all forgotten in her rage. Cid's blood now covered her chest and some of her face, thighs and arms as Fang simply continued to punch him

while cursing him fluently. "Enough!" The fal'Cie roared as two Cie'th snuck up behind Fang pulled her off of the man restraining her arms behind her back. Fang's vision was completely

red she couldn't tell whether it was because she was extremely pissed off or because of all Cid's blood that she had got in her eyes but she guessed it was a little of both. She could tell

by the look on the fal'Cie's face that it had not expected her to be that talented and skilled in the art of fighting. Two other Cie'th picked Cid up and dragged him over beside the enraged

woman. Fang breathed heavily as she shot daggers at the spider with her eyes, she slightly feared for her sanity as the thought of ever being calm again did not seem possible at the moment.

"Relax." The fal'Cie ordered but Fang bared her teeth at him in a evil looking sneer.

"Fuck off." She yelled back at the higher being as she started struggling against the Cie'ths hold that they had on her, it only took a few minutes but she broke free and scooped up her

lance and took a large leap at the spider. Being to big to move away quickly the fal'Cie could not avoid the incoming attack as Fang plunged her lance deep into one of it's large crimson red

eyes. Letting out a loud ear splitting cry the fal'Cie shoot it's head around violently but couldn't shake the woman from her vantage point. Digging the lance deeper into the creature's eye

Fang started to remove and plunge it deeper in repeatedly. Suddenly Fang was thrown back to the ground as Cid jumped up onto the spider and removed the woman from her spot.

Before the raven haired woman could climb to her feet Cid slammed his fist into the back of her head, knocking her unconscious.

* * *

"So now that your feeling better emotionally how bout we go to Lake Bresha now?" Serah asked Lightning as they were laying on the couch together. It had taken a while but Lightning

had finally relaxed and was now....sleeping in Serah's arms. Upon receiving no answer Serah sighed and decided to wake her elder sibling up. Lightning's eyes fluttered open as Serah

shook her awake, Lightning groggily looked up at her little sister with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Lake Bresha?" Serah asked as Lightning sleepily rubbed her eyes to help herself wake up. "Oh my God your so cute when you do that!" Serah squealed happily as Lightning blushed fiercely.

"Serah!" Lightning yelled out of embarrassment as her blush deepened, she lightly smacked Serah on her arm.

"What it's true." Serah stated some what seriously crossing her arms.

"Tch." Lightning rolled her eyes before carefully climbing to her feet and grabbing her boots from the front door. "Yeah let's go." Lightning called over to her as she sat down and struggled

but was able to get them on and do them up. Serah smiled widely as she came to rest beside her sister.

"Oh crap we gotta fly there, I'll call Sazh and see if he can do it." Lightning said as she grabbed the phone from it's cradle on the wall. The young woman began to tap her foot impatiently

after the first few rings on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" A female voice emanated from the other end as Lightning mentally smacked herself in the head, of course Sazh'ssoon to be ex-wife would answer the phone when she another

_younger_girl was calling. "Yes um is Sazh there?" Lightning asked uncomfortable with talking to the woman.

"And who is calling?" Sazh's wife-Monique that was her name Lightning reminded herself-asked.

"Um tell him it's Lightning." Lightning answered awaiting the older woman's reaction, she knew that Monique hadn't really liked her from the fact that Lightning was younger and better

looking. "Oh hello dear." She replied surprisingly pleasantly she could hear the smile in her voice which caught her off guard.

"Um hello." Lightning said unsure of what she was supposed to say next.

"Hold on a moment I'll get him." The older girl said as she left to find her soon to be ex-husband. A few moments later Sazh's voice sounded from the phone.

"Yo Light what do you need?" He asked in a jolly tone of voice, make no mistake he was obviously wearing that wide grin of his.

"Um, could you fly me and Serah to Lake Bresha?" Lightning asked the older man.

"Of course! anything for you blue eyes." Sazh laughed "I'll be over in a few minutes." He said before the two exchanged farewells and hanging up the phone.

Sure enough seven minutes later Sazh appeared on the doorstep pounding loudly on the door, Serah answered smiling warmly at him letting her into herself and her sister's home.

"So where's the goddess of Bodhum?" Sazh asked as he stepped in the front door.

"Oh she's going over the ground rules with Snow for while were gone." Serah explained as she led the dark skinned man into the living room where Lightning was lecturing Snow.

"Your hear me Snow? if I so hear about you having a party while were gone I swear I'll kick you so hard that your children will feel it." Lightning told him seriously.

"But I don't have any children." Snow frowned not getting what the younger girl meant.

"That's the point you idiot! NO PARTIES!" Lightning yelled in his face.

"Whoa sis just relax I won't have a party while your gone." Snow said calmly putting his hands on Lightning's shoulders.

"Alright." Lightning said giving him a look that told the giant of a man not to lie to her and end up holding a party. Lightning turned to see Sazh standing there, she hadn't heard him come in.

"Hey blue eyes." Sazh greeted, he obviously liked the new found pet name he came up with for the young woman.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Lightning asked frowning at the middle-aged man.

"What? I like it. Plus I'm just stating the color of your eyes." Sazh explained crossing his arms in front of her.

"Whatever." Was all Lightning said as she brushed past the man.

"Hey where's your black sleeve, red bag, gloves, and armor plate?" Sazh asked noticing the missing accessories which the ex-Sergent normally wore.

"Um with these casts on I couldn't put my gloves on and...what does it matter Sazh?" She snapped irritated at his questions.

"Sorry sarge." The man joked as he and Snow shared a laugh until Lightning glared at the two older men. Making their way outside Lightning, Serah and Sazh climbed into the small airship

that Sazh owns. "I sure hope I get to keep this baby in the divorce settlement." Sazh said aloud as he fired up the engine to the vehicle.

"You will, I don't see what Monique could possibly want with an airship." Lightning said "that is unless she wants to sell it." She added as an afterthought.

"Blue eyes no!" Sazh yelled appalled at the thought of his baby being sold to some run down airship dealership.

"Sazh." Was all Lightning said in response to what he called her.

"I like your new pet name Light." Serah said from the back seat as she rested her elbows on the two front seats.

"Not you too Serah." Lightning groaned as she brought as casted hand to cover her eyes. Half an hour later the three arrived at the beautiful Lake Bresha the crystal clear water glittering in

in the light. The green trees that surrounded the lake and the nice smell of the water all added together to make for a wonderful environment and atmosphere.

Climbing out of the vehicle Serah ran out into the somewhat tall grass with a big smile plastered on her face. It had been approximately four years since Lightning and herself had visited the

beautiful lake. She was fourteen years old while Lightning was seventeen, this was around the time in which Lightning had slowly began to distance herself from Serah. Not physically but

emotionally, not willing to share her feelings and problems with her little sister. But being back here made Serah happy knowing that they had once more retained the perfect relationship

that she had always wanted with her sister. "It's beautiful isn't it?" Lightning's voice sounded in Serah's left ear as a hand was placed comfortingly across her shoulders.

"Yeah." Serah breathed as she watched a few dolphins jump and flip out of the water before coming back down with a splash and a few happy squeaks.

"While I'll see you two later. I'd love to stay and chat but this is a sister moment right? just give me a call when your ready to leave blue eyes!" Sazh called but Lightning ignored him as it

was just herself and Serah there now. No worries or problems all of such trivial things erased from their day to day lives with just one look at the lake. Sazh's airship flew away at a low

altitude as it caused small ripples and waves to stretch out across the glorious Lake Bresha.

"Remember the last time we came here?" Serah asked turning to face her sister, Lightning gave a nod signaling she did remember.

"How could I forget? I was seventeen and you were fourteen." Lightning said as she slowly crept up to the waters edge, gazing down at her reflection in the water glassy liquid.

"Yeah." Serah said as she walked up and knelt down beside the water looking at her own reflection. "Things seemed alot simpler back then didn't they?" Serah asked.

"Mmm hmm." Lightning hummed as she knelt down beside her sister. "But hey look at how many great people, friends we made while going through this mess."

"Yeah your right." Serah smiled her mood happier now as she stood to her full height and stretched her arms. "Let's enjoy this while we can." She smiled wider as Lightning returned it.

Serah took out a light blanket from the nap sack she had packed and laid it out across the grass for her and Lightning to sit on.

"Hey what a weired looking owl." Serah pointed up to a tree where a small white mechanical looking owl sat, it's head spun upside down and back to normal as in acknowledgement

Serah smiled and waved back to the mammal. Lightning smiled as she watched Serah's eyes light up with excitement, the girl truly did love nature and all the animals that came along with

it that is except for spiders and the creepy crawlies. "So Light any guys your interested in?" Serah asked, Lightning sighed she had seen this question coming five miles away Serah was

to easy to read, she displayed her emotions clearly on her face and with each word she spoke.

"No." Lightning answered turning away from her sister, a slight blush on her face.

"Oh come on sis, your gorgeous how can you not have your eyes set on a man?" Serah asked turning Lightning's head to face her, Serah's words caused her to blush a deeper red.

"I just don't Serah." Lightning responded quickly.

"Ummmmm what about..........Sazh?" Serah asked now suggesting men that she could date. "He wants you." She stated firmly.

"Uhh Serah he's like forty and he's nineteen years older than me." Lightning frowned down at her sister.

"So? it not all about age Lightning." Serah stated crossing her arms.

"So your saying I should go out and marry a fifty year old?" Lightning mocked using Serah's words against her.

"Don't use my words against me Lightning!" Serah argued. "You always do that!" She fake pouted as Lightning just laughed and ruffled her hair in response.

"Come on you know I'm joking." Lightning grinned.

"Yeah I know...how about Yaag?" Serahasked once again suggested another man for her sister.

"Serah are you kidding me?" Lightning asked incredulously as Serah nodded. "Yeah what a great idea date the man who's job it is to capture and execute me on public television." Lightning

said sarcastically rolling her eyes. "Oh..hehe yeah I kinda...forgot about that." Serah laughed sheepishly at herself. "What about Amodar? you two are close."

"Um...he's older than Sazh, Serah. Actually he is fifty! geez Serah he's twenty-nine years older than me. Sure he does look great for his age though and we are close but _date_ him? come on."

Lightning explained to which surprised Serah to a degree. "He's fifty? no way is he fifty." She said incredulously.

"Meh well that's what he tells me, he does joke a lot though." Lightning thought out loud thinking about her former superior.

"Ummm....how about....Fang?" Serah asked wondering if her sister may be a lesbian.

"Serah I'm not gay." Lightning said matter-of-factly as she turned to face her with a blank expression.

"Yeah I didn't think so." Serahreplied with yet another smile.

"Do I seem gay to you?" Lightning asked wondering why Serah had mentioned Fang.

"Actually not at all I was just playing around." Serah grinned giving Lightning a hug. "But I think Fang might be."

"No she's not gay." Lightning said shaking her head at Serah's accusation.

"Huh how do you know?" Serah frowned looking up at Lightning.

"Serah, do you not see how many guys she flirts with?" Lightning asked giving Serah a surprised look.

"Oh...yeah but what about Vanille?" The young eighteen year old asked.

"Their just childhood friends." Lightning said waving the notion off with her casted hand.

"Oh...hmm makes sense." Serah said with a shrug. Serah layed Lightning back onto the blanket and pushed down with her as the two now gazed up at the sky. It was now nightfall as many

stars plied the sky. Lightning sighed at the beautiful sight and put her arm around Serah's shoulders as Serah did the same and soon the two sisters fell asleep.

* * *

Fang awoke with a groan at first her vision was blurry but soon the world came back into focus. Bringing her hand to her head Fang sat up with another groan, looking to her right Fang

saw that she was no longer in the horrid place that housed the fal'Cie. _What a creepy cradle that thing had_ Fang thought to herself as she rose to her feet still holding a hand to her head

as it throbbed. Taking in her surroundings Fang saw that she was now being held in a cage like device made from what looked to be rotting trees, the smell was putrid and her weapon

was not by her side like it had been for so long now. Sighing Fang threw her arms up into the air in frustration. "Lovely." She muttered to herself as she perched herself on one of the large

roots of the trees that served as a makeshift bench. Crossing her left leg over the right Fang looked all around her prison in a search for a way out but none was in sight. Fang growled

and tossed several ruin spells at the side of the cell from her sitting position but they had no affect on the surprisingly hard exterior of the rotting trees. Fang closed her eyes and leaned

back aginst the trunk and rested her back against it. Her mind whirled with the thoughts of how everything seemed to spiral out of control starting with Jihl's death and ending with the

death of Cloud. A knocking noise resounding from the outside of the make shift cage caught the young woman's attention as her eyes snapped open and she glanced over to see Cid

standing there, his body still deformed with crystal fragments still on him. Dried blood stained the man's chest and no doubt the same for his back, his nose was broken from when Fang

lost her mind and started pounding on his face relentlessly. Open cuts were still present all over his body and facial features and the man had a blank expression on his face expressing

no emotions. "What do you want Cid?" Fang asked coldly not bothering to look at the man.

"You are to come with me." He said simply keeping the same expression on his face.

"What's gotten into you Raines? do you not have a will of your own anymore?" Fang snapped turning to glare daggers at the man.

"My will is but a fal'Cie's fancy now." Cid spoke as he casted some sort of magic that created an opening in the cage.

"Cid, just let me go. We can get out of here together come on you don't have to be here." Fang attempted to change the man's mind.

"No. Now come." He said motioning with his large hand.

"You don't have to do what it says." Fang stated crossing her arms but still staying seated on the root of the tree.

"Think about it Fang. Even if we did escape I wouldn't be able to live a normal life. Look a me I'm hideous he said motioning to his body, Fang kept quiet as she dropped her gaze to the

ground. After a few moments Fang stood and followed Cid out of the cage.

* * *

Lightning and Serah had decided to take a trek along the cliff side to get a better view of the lake from above. The cliffs were not much higher than the lake itself, not much higher than ten

feet. Down below the weather had taken a change for the worst as a storm had begun to brew down below as black storm clouds rolled in and now emitted lightning bolts from them

shooting them across the sky with a brilliant flash of white. The water level of the lake had risen, raging waves now splashed ruthlessly along the shore of the lake and the waves were

as high as the cliffs themselves. Water sprayed over the edge of the cliffs as more lightning flashed and thunder boomed emanating throughout the beautiful scenery, the moon was

a full one and shining a brilliant white as an eerie fog shrouded it a little and the storm clouds seemed to avoid it so one could clearly see it in it's glory. Lightning glanced up to see the

same owl circling overhead seemingly unaffected by the strong gusts of wind. Lightly placing her hand on the handle of her Blazefire Saber Lightning walked to the edge of the cliff.

"Lightning no don't shoot it!" Serah cried from behind her as she ran up to her sister's side and placed her hand lightly on Lightning's wrist.

"Serah that thing doesn't sit right with me." Lightning told her looking strangely at the bird as it continued to fly in the same circular pattern.

"Why not?" Serah asked her voice slightly drowned out by the raging waters below.

"Well the whole time we've been here it's been watching us and hasn't left for anything." Lightning explained. "It hasn't even ate anything." She added as an afterthought.

"So?" Serah asked as she walked closer to the edge of the cliff.

"Hey get back here." Lightning said pulling her baby sister back away from the long fall that would follow if she slipped.

_Click!_

Lightning whirled around her hand instantly pulling her Blazefire Saber from it's holster and holding it protectively in front of her. She had pushed Serah behind her to protect her.

Several PSICOMenforcers along with some PSICOM Reavers and Marauders with a Sanctum Templer leading them. Lightning inwardly groaned she had been hoping to avoid combat for

the next few days as she was still not healed enough to be herself in combat again, although she could still perform the basic moves. That would make this fight much tougher as she

won't be able to perform her most complex maneuvers most notable her Army of One ability. The Sanctum stepped forward five feet away from the soldiers under his command.

"Lightning Farron you are under arrest for the crime of being branded by a fal'Cie of Pulse." He announced clearly through the howling winds of Lake Bresha.

"Right." Lightning said as she made no move to surrender firmly standing her ground. In response the Templer readies it's double edged lance which was much like Fang's.

"You don't surrender?" He asked already knowing the answer to his question. Lightning hesitated for a moment realizing that Serah was still there behind her, surely if she made a move

to attack the soldiers before her would not hesitate to shoot her sister the moment she became vulnerable. Dropping her head and sword arm in thought the PSICOM soldiers all relaxed

immediately thinking that the young woman had chosen to surrender rather than fight.

"Serah, run." Lightning whispered turning her head to the side ever so slightly.

"What?" Serah asked clearly frightened for what her sister was planning to do.

"I'll be fine just save yourself." Lightning told her before swiftly giving her sister a shove towards the path leading away from the cliff. The squad of soldiers instantly turned to the young

girl as Serah did as Lightning told her and made for the path to safety. As soon as she saw them turn their heads Lightning tossed a Aerora spell at the group, the spell created a small

whirlwind and lifted all of them into the air as this happened Lightning followed it up by casting a thundagaspell which striked them all while in mid-air causing multiple cries from the

men in the whirlwind. The Templer however was not lifted by the spell and lunged forward swinging his lance at the young woman quickly. Lightning blocked his attack and swiftly jumped

to the side switching her sword into gun mode and shooting several bullets into the man. The Templer didn't seem affected by the attack as his armor absorbed the bullets easily, once

more he made a move to attack and Lightning countered by ducking under his lance and slashing at his exposed armored ribs with her sword. This earned her a grunt of pain as the man

cried out although from the sound of his voice Lightning could tell the attack hadn't done as much damage as she would have liked. By this time the squad of soldiers under the Templer's

command had climbed to their feet and started to open fire around Lightning's legs. She could tell by their choice of where to fire that they were to take her in alive not dead which gave

her more room to work with. Lightning front flipped high into the air and landed behind the firing squad of soldiers, as soon as her feet gracefully hit the ground she started to cut through

the low level soldiers dropping three instantly. One enforcer started to fire his gun but Lightning ducked and grabbed the man's gun arm turning it to fire on his own comrades dropping

another four from their ranks. The PSICOM Reaver made it's first move of the battle by striking at Lightning exposed ribs landing the attack with great force. Sending a wave of excruciating

pain up her spine Lightning fell to the ground with a loud cry of pain. Writhing in pain on the ground the young woman rolled onto her back to see the Reaver standing over her.

Breathing heavily Lightning rolled to the side and slashed up cutting his armor deeply starting from his stomach and ending at his helmet. The Reaver cried out and stumbled back as

Lightning jumped up to her feet and ran forward drop kicking the man in the stomach as the impact sent him stumbling over the cliff and into the raging waters of Lake Bresha.

The PSICOM Reaver's cries were drowned out as his heavy armor forcibly pulled him into the depths of the great lake. Turning around the young woman saw that she had successfully

taken down most of the PSICOM enforcers, all that remains is to finish off the three leftovers and the PSICOM Marauder and the Templer. Lightning's vision went black for a few moments

as she was struck in the side falling to the ground once more. The steady throbbing that came from her ribs intensified as they received more of a beating over the duration of the fight.

"Still just a child." The Marauder said as he stood over her limp body. Attempting to find the strength to stand up Lightning pushed herself to her knees and stabbed the man in his armored

knees dropping him down to her level, Lightning raised her sword and plunged it into the armored man's chest no doubt piercing his heart. Pulling her sword free, the man's blood sprayed

out in massive amounts. Slowly climbing to her feet Lightning turned to see the Templer rushing towards her, Lightning performed a back flip kicking the Templer in the head in the process

of performing the acrobatic move. Lightning landed but the impact caused her to fall to one knee as it sent a jolt of pain up into her ribs. Lightning worried about how Serah was doing and

where she was, taken out of her thoughts by the Templer smashing his lance into her raised sword Lightning quickly kneed him the gut and jumped back while simultaneously casting a

fira spell which set some of the trees around them ablaze created a circle of fire around the two. Lightning felt her stamina going, normally she would be able to easily handle such an

opponent but she hasn't been herself lately as she blinked her eyes as black flecks danced across her vision as her consciousness threatened to leave her for what wasn't the first time

that day. Upon seeing the exotic young woman's reaction to her current state of being, the Templer rushed forward and smashed his lane against her ribs the target of their assaults

effectively rendering the young woman unconscious as the pain became to much to bare.

* * *

Serah continued to frantically run away from the fight that was taking place up on the cliffs, Lightning had told her to run so she could be safe. However she couldn't help but feel guilty for

leaving her sister like that even if it is what she wanted. Serah turned on her heel and started in the other direction, the weight of the guilt became too much for her as she headed back

to see if she could help Lightning. It only took a few minutes until the lake came back into view Serah suddenly stopped and gasped as she saw a wall of fire up on the high ground.

Serah quickly scrambled up the cliff in time to see the PSICOM Templer carrying Lightning's limp body into a small airship. Serah fell to her knees and started to cry as the ship took off and

flew into the air leaving her behind. Overhead the strange owl from before circled overhead one more time before flying off after the airship.

* * *

Fang followed Cid, watching him intently entranced by how different he was acting then his usual self. Cid hadn't said a thing sense they left the cell and it was making Fang more and more

uneasy. "So Raines where are we going?" Fang asked to break the eerie silence that enveloped the place.

"To the fal'Cie." Was his quick reply, his voice still held no emotion.

"What fal'Cie is that anyway?" Fang asked her curiosity getting the better of her.

"That's not for just anyone to know." Cid replied not answering her question.

"Right." Fang rolled her eyes as the two continued walking down the dirt path. "So what does the bastard want?" Fang asked trying to get a reaction from the man.

"Best do what your told Fang." Cid answered giving the woman an idea that she was to do some task for the spider.

"What the hell Cid? why are you blindly following it's orders like you don't even have a brain?" Fang yelled stepping in front of the man and standing as tall as she could to get a better look

of the man's eyes. "That fal'Cie could instantly turn me into a Cie'th if it so feels like it. I am not willing to risk that." Cid told her swiftly pushing past the smaller girl.

"I'd say your already a Cie'th." Fang stated motioning to his body as Cid turned around.

"Right." Was all the man said before turning back around and heading towards the large gate that was the entrance to the fal'Cie's throne. The two entered the gate as it opened for

the approaching figures. "Welcome." The voice of the fal'Cie boomed within the chamber as soon as the gate closed behind the two.

"What do you want?" Fang asked forcing her voice to sound bored at the prospect of being in the same room as the fal'Cie.

"I want you to bring your friend here." The large spider answered quickly as if time was of the upmost importance.

"And which friend are you referring too?" Fang asked on purpose to piss the thing off.

"Your friend Lightning. The beautiful young strawberry blond woman." The fal'Cie answered once more.

"Ohhhhhhhhh and why do you want me to bring her here?" Fang asked acting as though she didn't know that the thing had wanted her to bring Lightning all along.

"I have a present for her." The spider answered smiling widely.

"Hmm to bad I won't bring her to you." Fang shrugged at the thing.

"If only it were that simple." The fal'Cie spoke as it rose one leg that had become enshrouded withan orange mist. With a simple flick of the body part the ornage mist shot forward and

engulfed Fang forcing the fal'Cie's will upon her. Fang's eyes glazed over as she was brought under it's control.

"As you wish."

* * *

Wooo first FFXIII story to reach 100,000 words =D I know the first half of this chapter feels really foreign to me so let me know how that part was but I feel the second half felt more familiar. Oh and don't forget to check out my poll if you want your say in which one of my stories you want to see more of =D and as always many thanks to Pulse99 my awesome Beta! and the link for the official cover for the story is here: http:// tinypic . com / view . php? pic=34 fmi 5x&s=5 just delete the spaces.


	19. Chapter 18: Fortitude

**This Chapter is once again dedicated to my really good friend Sheldon Yeung without him this story would not be able to continue.**

Sisterly Love Chapter 18: Fortitude

"I know of no higher fortitude than stubbornness in the face of overwhelming odds."

Serah climbed to her feet, slowly wiping her eyes as she tried in vain to control her emotions. Lightning was gone, for the third time in her life her older sister was kidnapped. She found it

strange how the Sanctum had managed to do so three times now but she could tell that this would be the last. Claire wouldn't allow herself to be caught anymore although she couldn't

blame herself from falling to the large group of PSICOM soldiers. She wore casts on both of her arms there was no way she would be able to retain her regular fighting form in such a

condition with the big blocks of black cast inhibiting her movements that would be normally so crisp and sharp that even the fastest person would fail when trying to duck under her sister's

blade. Regaining her composure Serah took a few careful steps to make sure her legs would not fall out from under herself. The young girl slowly made her way back down to the waters

edge to gather the things that Lightning and herself had brought for what they had expected to be a pleasant evening at the normally peaceful lake. Puling a phone from the bag, Serah

quickly dialed a number that was on Lightning's speed dial it took a couple of moments before a deep older voice answered.

"Hello?" Sazh asked rather sleepily on the other end of the line. It was two o'clock in the evening he was with no doubt asleep moments prior to the call.

"Um Sazh?" Serah asked her voice was both tired and sad as she sniffed a few times.

"Yeah Serah? what's going? damn girl what are you calling at this hour for?" Sazh asked jokingly but received no reply save for the shaky breathing of the younger girl at the other end of

the line. "Serah!" Sazh asked again when he heard a crashing sound resonate from the phone in his hand. "Shit!" He growled quickly climbing from his bed and hastily getting dressed.

Serah's grip loosened on the small phone as it slid from her already slick palm. She stared fixated as a bright orange glow opened up in the shape of a circle. Moments later a bright

pillar of light pushed forth from the static circle of light stretching across the vast lake. Two dark silhouettes appeared in the center of the pillar and dropped to the ground roughly ten

feet in front of Serah. As soon as the light vanished the figures began visible which revealed a red-eyed Fang and a very grotesque looking Cid. Serah gasped upon seeing the look in the

tan woman's eyes, one of incomprehensible hollow looking with a mix of an evil glare in them. Serah swallowed nervously as she turned her attention to the man who stood beside the

oddly different Fang. Her eyes widened upon seeing what had happened to Cid's body as it now had many crystal fragments all over it. The two started taking small steps towards the

strawberry blond girl, which caused Serah's fear to spike drastically as her heart began pumping out blood twice as fast.

"Serah?" Fang asked sounding like her normal accented voice but that didn't seem to calm the girl down in the slightest.

"Y-yeah?" Serah replied her voice barely above a whisper and cracking audibly.

"Where's Lightning?" Fang asked looking around the desolate landscape save for the wild crashing of the aggravated waves splashing into the rocky cliff side.

"Um I don't know." Serah admitted but something about the look in Fang's eyes told her that the older woman thought she was lying.

"Come on Serah it's not like you to lie." Fang stated taking a few more steps towards the girl.

"I'm not, I honestly have no idea where Lightning went." Serah defended herself as anger rose into her voice from the depths of her being.

"Do you?" Fang asked as the two continued to approach the defenseless girl.

* * *

"Mmmm." Lightning moaned instinctively bringing a hand to her head as the pounding set in. It seemed that she had been experiencing this feeling plenty a time lately since that day when

Jihl had kidnapped her. Since then things seemed to keep going more and more downhill, such as the dreams...no nightmares she had been having of the fal'Cie that took the shape of a

monstrous spider that sent chills up her spine. As she brought her hand to her forehead the clanking sound of the handcuffs she wore on both of her wrists registered into her mind and

her eyes shot open. The young woman's piercing blue eyes darted from object to object as they quickly surveyed the room and her surroundings. Quickly noticing that she was laying on

a shabby mattresswhich to her great relief was relatively clean. The room that held her was a pure metallic white with nothing on the walls save for a thin window that that exposed the

cloudy evening sky of the capital of Cocoon known as Eden. "Dammit." Lightning muttered as she clambered to her feet, her toned legs feeling as though they would fall out from under

her at any given moment. The young strawberry blond soldier stumbled over to the window, resting her cuffed hands against the wall to support herself as she gazed out of the reinforced

glass and over the city of Eden where the civilians of Cocoon's capital went to work on living their day-to-day lives completely unaware of the many conspiracies and secrets being kept

from them by the Sanctum and their Primarch. Lightning rested her head against the metallic wall as her pulsing mind continued to run through the current emotions that overwhelmed

her normally stoic nature. Serah was all that was on her mind as she closed her eyes as sorrow overtook her in this moment where her defenses crumbled into a pile of smoking ash.

Her eyes dampening Lightning swiped angrily at the moist tears that had overtaken and clouded her vision as a whimper escaped her lips. Hearing the door to her own personal hell

open, the young woman took in a deep breath before turning to face the PSICOM elite who stood in the doorway making a point of how he held his gun to his chest protectively thinking

that somehow it intimidated the broken soldier before him. Lightning quickly glanced down to confirm her suspicion that her Blazefire Saber was missing from it's leather sheath which was

also missing. Looking over the soldier's shoulder Lightning confirmed that there were one more soldier with the man charged with bringing her wherever she was to go.

"Turn around and put your hands on the wall and spread your legs." The elite ordered firmly trying hard to keep his voice from wavering. In truth he was slightly afraid of the leader of the

group of Pulse l'Cie who were threatening the citizens of their homeland. Lightning sighed sadly and did as told awaiting further instruction although she knew what was coming next.

Lightning couldn't help but squeal as her head was roughly pulled back and a thick black bag was placed over it to inhibit her vision. The young woman was roughly pulled away from the

wall by the elite as the other one came and took hold of her upper right bicep. The pair began leading their prisoner away from her cell with the one holding her arm and the other with

his gun readied at her back in case she made a move for freedom. As they continued to walk down the hall Lightning couldn't help but wish she were still unconscious.

* * *

"Shit!" Fang swore under her breath as bullets rained down upon herself and Cid as gunshots rang out clear in the still night air. Sazh jumped from his still hovering airship with his Vega

42's already drawn and firing down on the pair who were advancing upon the helpless Serah. The young eighteen year old had taken the opportunity and bolted behind the airship which

was now landed and revealing a rather angry Amodar as he stepped out of the vehicle. Fang dropped back so she was just standing in front of the half Cie'th Cid who wrapped his crystalline

wings around the two of them to repel the gunfire from both Sazh and Amodar. The two older men continued to fire upon the blue crystal wings until Serah had safely gotten into the airship.

As soon as she did Sazh and Amodar jumped in after her and quickly took off. Serah sat in the cabin of the luxurious ship trembling slightly as Amodar came over to comfort her.

"So what did those two goons want?" He asked in his deep heart warming voice that calmed the young girl down considerably.

"Um they wanted to know where Lightning went." Serah told the older man looking up into his warm welcoming dark eyes. "One of them was Fang." She whispered shorty after.

"Your and Lightning's friend?" He asked frowning at the thought of why one of Lightning's closest friends would be advancing upon her little sister like that.

"Yeah." Serah whimpered as Amodar wrapped his large arms around the small girl.

"So.....where's Lightning?" The older man by several decades asked after a few moments of Serah's soft sobbing.

"She was taken away by the Sanctum." Serah explained trying hard not to break down into tears again.

"Ah crap." Sazh said from the front of the ship. "That girl just doesn't know how to stay out of trouble."

* * *

Lightning heard a metallic door open before she was roughly shoved through the opening and moments later she was pushed down so she rested on her knees.

"Hello Miss Farron." An elderly voice spoke from about fifteen feet in front of the blinded woman. Lightning raised her head to the voice, and seconds later the bag was removed from her head.

Lightning took in a deep breath of fresh air as she was released from the stuffy bag. The young woman gazed up at the throne that sat before her as she realized that it was the Sanctum

Primarch who had addressed her. "D-Dysley?" Lightning asked surprised that she had been brought straight to the Primarch and not someone like Yaag who was in control of the division

hunting her and her friends. "Yes that is right." Dysley said simply as he made a wave with his hand to dismiss the guards who stood by the prisoner's side. Lightning sighed and rested back

on her haunches. "How do you know me?" The blue eyed woman snapped with bite evident in her voice.

"Ha ha ha come on miss Farron use that mind of yours. Do you really believe that I the Primarch of the Sanctum would not know of the leader of the Pulse l'Cie who have been threatening the

whole of Cocoon lately?" Dysley asked his voice held a some what mocking tone to it as Lightning's anger began to bubble. The young woman made no move to respond for a few moments.

"We haven't done anything to threaten Cocoon! if anything we've helped you and your lazy excuses for soldiers what with killing Jihl and all." Lightning snarled not feeling intimidated by the

much older man. "Of course and I am grateful for that act of heroism on your behalf." Dysley spoke without any indication to whether he was being sarcastic or not.

"Huh then why don't you let me go as a reward?" Lightning asked but not with the intention of bargaining but rather to get under the Primarch's skin if that was even possible she did not

know. "Heh I like you miss Farron, your a feisty one." Dysley let out a small chuckle at the young woman.

"Tch." Was Lightning's only reply as she became increasingly more irritated wth the elderly man.

"But now let's get down to business." Dysley started as he leaned forward in his throne. "I want you to run an errand for me." He stated wanting Lightning to take the bait.

"Ha what are you a fal'Cie now? believe me when I say that you don't have that much power. If my hands weren't cuffed behind my back I'd rip you to shreds right now." Lightning said with

a cold look in her eyes. "Huh if only you knew." Dysley replied monotone showing no emotion in both his voice and face. "Come." The older man said simply beckoning the young woman to

come closer. "I'm not a dog." Lightning said not wanting to obey the man's command but also knowing that she had no say in whether or not she could choose not too.

"But your my prisoner now come." He repeated with a little bit of anger seeping into his voice, albeit not much but it was present. Lightning sighed, bit her lip lightly and then did what the

man had commanded as she walked up until she was three feet away from the man. The young strawberry blond stared into Dysley's eyes with venomous intent and she scowled when she

saw his eyes flick down and gaze at her legs lustfully. Lightning knew that her coming actions were stupid but she failed when it came to controlling her anger as she stepped forward

and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of the Primarch's head. Dysley's head flew up in an instant as he glared at the young woman who dared to physically hit him.

Thrusting his right arm out quickly a strong gust of wind sent Lightning flying off of the stairs to the floor below. Landing painfully Lightning rolled several feet before stopping and laying still.

"Hmm the leader of the Pulse l'Cie dares to hit such a high political figure without hesitation you will surely be punished for such an act miss Farron." Hearing his voice Lightning dazedly

looked up at the Primarch. Her eyes instantly widened as she saw the man now floating in the air holding his staff out which was now surrounded by medium sized glowing purple spheres.

"Now show me your true strength." The man shouted as he swiftly swung his staff and sent a single orb towards the grounded woman. Lightning climbed to her knees and gasped once

she saw the sphere flying at her. Shutting her eyes tightly she winced as the sphere bit into the cuffs that still held her hands together effectively freeing them. Lightning opened her eyes

to see Dysley holding her Blazefire Saber in his hand as he slowly touched down onto the floor. The primarch threw the blade roughly to the floor, the force of the throw causing to stand

upright while embedded into the metallic surface. Lightning took in a deep breath before stepping up to her blade. Deep within her mind the young woman knew she had made a mistake

by striking the Primarch while she was consumed by rage. With one swift motion she pulled her sword from it's makeshift pedestal and readied herself for the ensuing combat.

The ex-Sergeant made the first move as she switched her sword to gun-mode and opened fire upon the political figure. Lightning's eyes widened as the bullets she fired did not reach the

old man as he brought up a shield stopping them in their tracks as the lead burnt to crisp ashes.

"What are you?" Lightning breathed, gazing up at the floating man.

"Kneel down l'Cie and I may just forgive you."

* * *

Snow shot up from his place on the couch. Frantic footsteps caught his attention as he turned to face the doorway which led to the front door. Normally the rather tall shadow that was

present in the doorway would have frightened the large man. But the very recognizable afro instantly gave away who the man was.

"What do you want Sazh? come on man it's three in the morning." Snow whined as he slowly climbed to his feet and flipped the light switch on.

"Sorry bro, but we got a problem." Sazh told him as he hastily made himself a sandwich in the kitchen.

"Evidently not as big as you think it is since your making yourself a sandwich." Snow said flatly looking down at Sazh's sandwich which was rather large and full of many ingredients.

"Come on Frosty a brother's gotta eat right?" Sazh asked, his voice travelling upwards a couple of octaves.

"Right right, so what's the big deal?" Snow asked seating himself down onto the closest bar stool as he waited for Sazh to swallow the bite of his sandwich that he just took a bite of.

"Lightning was kidnapped by the Sanctum again." Sazh answered as he cracked open a beer.

"Sazh! what the hell are you doing having lunch at a time like this!" Snow asked quickly jumping to his feet and placing his bandanna on his head before running out of the door.

Snow rushed into the small airship quickly as he worried for Serah's mental state, the events of the last view days are sure to have taken a toll upon the small girl and Snow feared for

his fiance. Bursting through the door to the ship, he found Serah sitting on the small couch with what looked like Amodar comforting her.

"I'll take it from here." Snow told Amodar who in turn nodded before making his departure to the front of the ship.

"How many times must this happen?" Serah whispered softly as the large blond took the now vacant seat beside the small girl.

"This will be the last. I swear to you." Snow whispered back just as softly as his lover did.

"All I wanted was to spend some time with her while she recovered. I should have known that the Sanctum was following us." Serah berated herself.

"Don't worry we'll get her back. The heroes never die." Snow smirked as Sazh fired up the engine before taking off.

"Sazh man you shouldn't drink and drive."

* * *

Lightning jumped off to the side as yet another blue sphere sped towards her at blinding speeds. With a crisp cut of her blade, the next sphere in line was cut in half causing the powerful

magic to miss her. Before Lightning could shift onto the offensive, Dysley was in her face forcing the young woman to stay on the defensive as she blocked his staff which was aimed for

her head. For an old man, Dysley was strong as he effortlessly pushed the young woman over, tossing her off to the side.

"Yield?" He smirked as he slowly walked over to the grounded l'Cie who was struggling to climb to her feet.

"Never." Came Lightning's cliche answer as she swiped at the Primarch with her sword as her anger made it impossible to land a hit on the man.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Dysleycooed as he kneeled before the strawberry blond and lifted her chin with his finger. With a swift motion he chopped down on her neck knocking the young woman

unconscious.

* * *

"Alright you chumps, where are we headed?" Sazh asked as he looked over his shoulder to the other occupants of the flying vehicle. But his attention was trained on Amodar the only one to

have a single idea as to where they would be holding Lightning. "Huh, just go fly near the fal'Cie Pheonix. You'll see a very large airship called the Palamecia. That's where they'll be keeping

her until they get to the Doppelganger. Once they get her there it will even be more difficult to break her out." Amodar explained as he rested his face on his fist.

"Alright then we got ourselves a game plan!" Sazh exclaimed as he gazed around the ship in excitement. "But I swear once we get her out of there I'm gonna beat that girl's ass for putting

us through this again." Sazh added on as his thoughts drifted to the beautiful young woman whom they were heading to rescue yet again.

"What are you now Sazh? her sugar daddy?" Snow asked from the back.

"Ha your funny broski. But I wouldn't mind being if you know what I mean." Sazh said with wink.

"Sazh!" Serah squeaked from the back.

"Alright alright, I;m just kidding." Sazh said holding his hands up as in defense.

"Damn Sazh keep your hands on the controls!" Amodar yelled as the airship started to spiral out of control.

"Got it got it!" The old man yelled out as he resumed control of the flying vehicle making everyone breath a sigh of relief.

"Hey why'd we even bring her?" Serah asked motioning to the sleeping Vanille who was snoring loudly on the couch opposite of Serah and Snow's.

"For her healing magic." Snow answered pointing at the Vanille. The rest of the remaining ride would be best described as uneventful until the Palamecia came into view with all it's glory.

"Okay here we go." Snow whispered under his breath as he stood and prepared himself for the coming assault upon the Sanctum fortress. Serah stood and shook Vanille awake who

followed suit as their small airship flew towards the sharp contrast which was known as the Palamecia.

* * *

Lightning awoke to the loud buzzing sound of the many alarms aboard the miniature fortress that she was being held on. Shaking her head a few times to help clear her blurry vision, she

saw that her wrists were once more cuffed together and this irritated her as she was now once more unarmed. The young woman sat up so her legs were hanging off of the bed, she

rested her head in her hands as the persistent buzzing was starting to escalate her already pounding headache. Her heart fluttered as the idea of Serah being part of the group mounting

the assault on the Palameciascared her to death. Sure she knew that Snow was already very capable of protecting her but still the possibility of harm being done to her baby sister was

nearly to much for for the young woman to handle. Lightning stood on shaky legs and made her way back over to the window, where she had been before the guards had come to retrieve

her before. And sure enough the doors opened again to reveal the same guards from before. Lightning took in a deep breath, should she try to escape now? or trust her very capable

friends to get the job done themselves this time?

* * *

"It looks like someone already beat us to the party." Sazh said as fighting could be heard off in the distance.

"You think maybe Farron started her jailbreak without us?" Amodar asked as he drew his fire arm and shot down the PSICOM enforcer who had charged towards the group.

"I don't let's go find out." Snow replied as the group started making their way deeper into the depths of the Palamecia. It wasn't long before they encountered there first mob of enemies.

Snow punched a lowly grunt in the face as Amodar and Sazh fired at the group from a distance as Vanille provided support and curative magic from afar. The mob went down quickly as the

party's strength and power was too much for the small group of soldiers to handle.

"Snow I don't see why I can't fight with the rest of us." Serah stated as she approached the large man after the battle had reached it's conclusion.

"Oh come on babe, you know I just don't want to see you getting hurt." The large blond replied making Serah cross her arms stubbornly.

"And you don't mind them getting hurt?" The young girl asked motioning towards their friends.

"You know what I mean Serah." Snow put an end to their argument before the group headed off down a series of halls which in turn led to a large grand hall which was fit for a king.

"You know what this means." Sazh started flicking his afro towards the door at the end of the numerous long ramps that led downward. "Dysley's down there."

"And so is Lightning so let's go." Serah said as she eagerly took the lead from the older man who had seemed content with leading the party in Lightning's absence.

"Damn girl wait up!" Sazh called after the eighteen year old as the rest of the party struggled to keep up with the strawberry blond girl. Just as Serah crossed the final bridge that led to the

door, the metallic board exploded to a mix of ash and flame. Serah was now separated from Snow, Sazh, Amodar, and Vanille.

"Came back for some more huh?" Sazh called out as he started opening fire on the floating figures of both Cid and Fang.

"Serah run!" Snow yelled as he brought his forearms up to his face to block the incoming attack from Cid. Serah did as she was told and ran through the large ominous door.

* * *

Serah walked slowly down the ramp that led to the large room. She could see that it was vacant save for two shadows. Suddenly Serah became painfully aware of the fact that she was

unarmed and useless in a battle without a weapon, no wonder Snow wouldn't let her fight. It's not like she was strong enough to use her fists like he is.

"And the younger Farron makes her entrance." A deep voice boomed from the throne atop the platform which sat in the middle of the room. Upon closer inspection Serah was able to

identify the two figures as Galenth Dysley and her sister. "Lightning!" She called out, fear evident in her voice as it wavered quite noticeably.

"Serah!" Lightning called back, Dysley stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders, Lightning's hands were still cuffed together and she was unarmed as the empty leather sheath

which hung at the back of her thighs indicated. "How sweet. I suppose I'll allow you two to be reunited." Dysley spoke as he turned Lightning to face him. Bringing her Blazefire Saber from

his side, the man cut the chain that held her wrists together in half so they were free but the cuffs still clung to her wrists. Lightning took the opportunity and back flipped so that she was

at Serah's side. The two shared a brief hug before Dysley interrupted them as he tossed Lightning's sword at her feet so it embedded into the metallic surface.

"I have something to show you two." He stated as he brought his staff high above his head, the head of the staff began to glow a dark purple color and static electricity began flicking

across the surface of it. Lightning pulled her sword from the floor and stepped in front of Serah protectively.

"Claire." Serah whispered as she saw Lightning tug something from the bag on her left thigh and shove it into her hand without even turning to face her. Serah looked down to see that it

was the survival knife she had gotten for her sister's birthday. "Right." She whispered concealing the knife from view. Meanwhile up at the throne a dark figure began to emerge from the

purple substance. The figure fell from the staff and landed on it's feet, still blanketed in shadow. Lightning stomach fluttered as her nervousness set in at the fear of the unknown.

Both Farron's eyes widened as the shadow cleared from the feminine figure to reveal the middle-aged face of their strawberry blond mother.

"Mom." Lightning and Serah whispered at the same time as they felt tears begin to well up in their eyes. Serah repeated the word that she hadn't said in so long as she began to take careful

steady steps towards the two's smiling and welcoming mother. "No." Lightning muttered as she held her hand out in an attempt to grasp Serah's shirt from behind, but the younger girl was

already out of reach. "Serah your stronger than this." She whispered in an attempt to stop her sister's now steady footsteps. Lightning closed her eyes in pain as Serah didn't listen, looking

down at her Blazefire Saber the young woman took a breath to calm herself before switching it into it's gun mode. Lightning opened her eyes and raised her gun and pointed it at her sister's

exposed back. Lightning found it extremely difficult to do so, but her training as a soldier helped her persevere. Serah was now six feet away from their mother when the gunshot rang out

and echoed across the large room.

* * *

"Shit what was that?" Sazh asked before being kicked in the face by Fang who then started approaching Vanille who cowered and turned away from her friend. Before Fang could attack the

young girl, Snow jumped on her back and started pounding away at her skull in an attempt to knock the young woman out cold. Cid threw Snow from Fang's back effortlessly as Amodar's

bullets seemed to have no effect on the monster of a man. Sazh himself jumped onto Cid's back and started pistol whipping the man in that back of his head as Vanille lashed out at him

withher binding rod, the small sharp ends digging into his skin before pulling back out taking small chunks of flesh with them. Cid cried out before grabbing at the spots where the flesh

was just brutally ripped from. "Night night." Cid's head snapped up at the sound of Sazh's voice and it was met with a lead bullet between the eyes. Snow jumped up into the air and came

down with such force that Fang was knocked out cold the instant his fist came into contact with her face.

"I heard a gun shot. We'd better get in there, and quick." Amodar said as the three looked towards the destroyed bridge.

* * *

"Aaaah!" Serah cried out as the searing pain that erupted within her right ankle flared up even more. The young girl looked over her shoulder as tears flowed from her eyes, and she saw

Lightning lower her gun with a guilty expression on her face. "Claire how could you do that to your sister!" Their mother yelled as she kneeled at Serah's side and instantly began stroking

her hair. "Get away from her." Lightning snapped taking a few steps towards the duo yet safely keeping her distance.

"Come closer Claire." Lightning obeyed slightly taking a few steps forward. "My you've grown into a gorgeous young woman." Her mother complimented, smiling warmly at her daughter.

"Just.....stop." Lightning whispered clenching her fists before turning to Dysley. "What is it that you wish to achieve from this? just leave us alone!" She yelled up to the old man who sat

in his throne smirking. "Claire, come give your mother a hug." Her mother spoke softly, Lightning turned to face her. Somewhere within the deepest depths of her mind Lightning was reluctant

to do so. But the thought that this could be the last time she would ever get the chance to overwhelmed her. For the past six years she had wanted, longed for one last hug from her mother

and now was her final chance. Taking cautious steps forward Lightning dropped to her knees and stared into her mother's piercing blue eyes, just like her own.

"She's real _Claire." _Dysley spoke from his throne, but Lightning ignored him she simply reached out with her hand and grazed her mother's cheek. Feeling the soft slightly wrinkled skin helped

relax the young woman a little as she turned to Serah. "Serah...I'm sorry." She whispered as a few tears fell from her face.

"It's okay." Serah replied wincing in pain as Lightning cast a quick cure spell over the wound effectively healing it. Turning back to her mother, Lightning gave her a tight hug as the tears

flowed freely from her light blue eyes. Her mother returned the gesture with her own before bringing Serah into it as well. The three sat there hugging each other for a whole minute.

"I missed you." Lightning and Serah whispered as their mother kissed them on the forehead one at a time.

"I missed you girls too. my lovely beautiful daughters." She smiled warmly, Dysley smirked before raising his staff above his head causing the young Farron's mother to start to fade away.

"Good bye mom. I love you." Lightning said as Serah repeated the same sentence. Dysley frowned upon not receiving the reaction which he was hoping for. So the old bitter man decided

to take the more painful. Suddenly the older Farron's body erupted into flames making the old woman cry out in pain and causing Lightning's anger to bubble and Serah's sadness to surface.

"You bastard!" Lightning screamed whirling around to glare at the old butter man with anger and determination blazing in her light blue eyes. The Primarch had re-lit her inner flame that

had been extinguished for the past many years since her mother's death, the reason for her many lost battles were easily traced back to her lack of an inner flame but now that it is

back the young woman won't go down easily. Little did Dysley know that he had made a big mistake as rekindling such a flame is a very hazardous thing to do especially with the young

Farron, who's eyes resembled more of a beast then that of a human being at the moment.

"Ha ha ha." Dysley chuckled as he turned to leave the two Farron's behind, one broken while the other furious. "I'll leave you girl's to play. Enjoy."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lightning frowned looking back down at Serah who was holding her left arm which was glowing a brilliant light blue as her l'Cie brand became visible

through the think fabric she used to conceal it. Serah cried out loudly prompting Lightning to hurry to her side, dropping to her knees, Lightning wrapped her arms around her sister in

an attempt to comfort her. "Come on Serah be strong." She whispered leaning back and gripping her sister's shoulders as Serah continued to scream, Lightning knew how she felt.

A large wall of water encircled the two sisters before spilling out over the room like an overflowing glass, leaving the two girls dry. Above the Farron sisters an entity hovered in the air,

Lightning grabbed Serah and jumped out of the way as it came back down onto the floor, Lightning shoved Serah to the floor and stepped in front of her protectively as she gazed up

at the monstrous sea serpent that stood before her. "Leviathan." Lightning whispered as Serah stood at her side.

"W-what is that sis?" Serah whispered not straying far from her sister.

"It's your Eidolon Serah." Lightning whispered taking her survival knife that had fallen to the floor and firmly placing it in Serah's hand before she brought her Blazefire Saber up to her chest.

Serah looked up at the beast with fearful eyes as she couldn't help but admire the beauty of the metallic creature. The beast was a light blue color with some red mixed in. Leviathan stood

with it's tail bent back like a snake ready to strike. The Eidolon had two wings on it's back that went out on each of it's sides, it's head was a metallic silver with three horns protruding from

the back of it and it's eyes were silver in color. The sea serpent charged at the two and Lightning swiped at it two times with her sword before jumping off to the side. Serah was in a daze

how the hell was she supposed to fight this thing with nothing but a small knife? She hadn't even noticed that Leviathan was standing tall above her preparing to attack but Lightning got it's

attention by firing a few shots at the summon. Lightning tossed a thundara spell at the Eidolon before she quickly ran to Serah's side.

"What do we do?" Serah asked frightened as her eyes frantically looked at the beast.

"_You _have to fight back if this thing is going to yield." Lightning told her calmly. "Now it's easy, just think of the element you want to cast and throw your arm out at the thing." Lightning

explained as Serah nodded and successfully casted a small thunder spell. "Hey I got it!" Serah piped up happily.

"Good. I'll draw it's attention and you pummel it with your magic." Lightning said before turning back to the Eidolon, and firing a few more shots at it. Leviathan recovered from the earlier

attack and charged at Lightning who blocked it's attack with ease before flipping away once more as Serah casted a fire spell on the thing. Lightning knew that this would take some time

sense all Serah could cast was small beginner's spells but at least it will work. Leviathan's tail caught Lightning off guard as it smacked into her side and sent the young woman into the

wall of the room. Lightning shook her head to ward off the impending grogginess and looked up and saw the water summon coming towards her, she managed to get her legs up in time

and use them to push the beast away as Serah casted another thunder spell. Leviathan turned around to face the younger Farron, giving Lightning the opportunity to jump onto it's back

and dig her sword into it's metallic scales. Leviathan bucked wildly as he threw Lightning from his back, the young woman was able to regain her balance in mid-air as she flipped backwards

and landed on her feet and slashed at the beast as it charged at her again. No matter how hard the eidolon tried it could not land a hit on the young woman as Serah continued to assault

it with low level magic spells. Lightning could tell that the beast was close to yielding and it would only take a little longer. Leviathan took another bull rush towards the young woman,

Lightning snapped her fingers and flew at the being at blinding speeds, she expertly stabbed her sword into the summon's eyes as Serah finished it off with a barrage of spells.

Lightning pulled her sword free before pushing off the beast and back flipping next to her sister. With a wave of Serah's hand, the Eidolon began making it's transformation. It was a short

one as the wings on it's back folded backwards and the head shifted position to create a barrel and the serpents tail shifted to form a submarine body.

"Well Serah, I don't know if this will ever come in handy but congrats I guess." Lightning said resting a hand on her hip after sheathing her Blazefire Saber.

"Ha thanks sis!" Serah said happily as she jumped up into her new eidolon, after a few minutes of checking it out, Serah jumped back out as Leviathan was dismissed. The Eidolon

disintegrated as a single tear fell from Serah's eyes at the thought of her mother and it formed a small cobalt crystal tear as it hovered above Serah's cupped hands before evaporating into

her l'Cie brand. "How are you holding up?" Lightning asked placing a hand on her sister's shoulder as soon as she saw Serah's features take on a look of sorrow.

"I don't know. It was nice seeing mom again yet sad at the same time." Serah explained burying her head in her sister's shoulder.

"I know." Lightning whispered wrapping her arms around her baby sister. "But it was nice to say our final goodbyes." Lightning lifted Serah's chin with her finger. "And don't worry Dysley

will pay." She finished will a look of a feral animal once more consuming her eyes for just a moment.

"I'll help." Serah whispered.

"Hey you two!" Vanille called from behind them waving her arms trying frantically to get the sisters attention.

"Vanille!" Serahexclaimed giving the older yet more immature girl a hug as she skipped over to the two with great speed and a happy expression on her face.

"Damn girl, how many times are you gonna get caught?" Sazh asked clapping Lightning on the shoulder.

"Last time I promise." Lightning smiled as Amodar finished carrying an unconscious Fang over to the group. "What's up with her?" Lightning asked frowning at Fang's body.

"She was being controlled so I had to knock some sense into her." Snow smirked confidently.

"Oh please you couldn't knock her out if you tried." Lightning rolled her eyes at Snow's bold claims.

"What? oh come on Light I so did, look she's laying right there!" Snow said pointing at the unconscious warrior woman.

"Doesn't mean you did it." Lightning pointed out as Snow gave up trying to argue his case.

"So how did you guys get over the broken bridge?" Serah asked the thought just hitting her.

"Oh we used Snow's lesbian Eidolon." Sazh answered chuckling at the thought. "They did this hot thing where they stretched and-"

"Don't want to hear it Sazh." Lightning said shaking her head at the perverted man.

"Easy Farron, you gotta know that he thinks those things about you as well." Amodar joked but realized he was right when Sazh went silent and averted his gaze. "Whoa I was right."

"Thanks Amodar, that's one thing I could have gone my whole life without knowing and not regret it." Lightning shook her head. "He's twice my age."

"Anyways." Serah started turning the tension away from poor old Sazh. "I got an Eidolon Snow!" She said happily as Vanille continued to stare at Sazh with a slightly disturbed expression.

"She's way younger than you Sazh." She whispered mortified but knowing that it's actually quite common.

"Really!" Snow yelled also extremely happy for his fiance.

"Yeah and Light taught me how to use magic too!" The young girl continued on jumping up and down slightly resembling an excited Vanille.

"That's great! what Eidolon did you get?" Snow asked clearly intrigued that Serah had managed to tame one of the legendary summons. Serah turned to Lightning not remembering her

Eidolon's name. "Leviathan." Lightning supplied simply. "And I did all the work." She said playfully pushing Serah's forehead back with her finger.

"Thanks Light." Serah smiled brightly. "But Snow, I told you I could fight." She turned her attention back to Lightning and handing her survival knife back to her sister. Lightning took the object

from her sister before giving some thought and handing it back to her. "You keep it Serah." She told her with a smile.

"But it's to keep you safe." Serah replied frowning.

"And I would keep it...but were not going to be separated anymore I promise." Lightning told her seriously taking Serah's hand and forcing her fingers to close around the hilt.

"Thanks Claire." Serah whispered as she leaned into Lightning's ear so no one else could hear her sister's real name. Pulling away Serah gave Lightning a soft kiss on the cheek before smiling

again. "You know what I just noticed guys?" Sazh started turning the attention away from Lightning as she blushed slightly.

"What Sazh?" Amodar asked knowing that the man would not continue until someone said those words.

"We forgot Hope." He answered. "Remember we told him to wait out on the sidewalk? while the poor kid is probably still waiting there for us."

"Ah well, we should get going." Amodar said waving his hand not concerned for the boy in the slightest.

"Yeah standing around and talking in a Sanctum airship doesn't sound like the smartest idea in the world." Lightning rolled her eyes as the group started making their way to one of the exits.

"Shit!" Lightning swore as she quickly drew her Blazefire Saber and blocked an incoming attack of purple spheres.

"No one's going anywhere." Dysley stated with a smirk as the party before him drew their weapons. "Glad to see that I'll have something to do for the next few minutes."

"Step down old man, there's no way you can beat all of us." Lightning spoke as the feral look returned to her eyes as they began to glow a pulsating light blue color.

"Oh please child, parish the thought. You have yet to know my true power." Dysley grinned as he took flight into the sky once more. Sazh fired a few rounds off at the Primarch but as usual

the lead bullets had no effect. "You guys we should just get out of here." Vanille said looking back at the exit.

"Yeah come on Lightning." Serah said tugging on her older sister's arm, but she didn't budge. She kept her gaze locked on Dysley.

"No Serah, this bastard is gonna get it." Lightning snarled angrily towards the floating Primarch.

"No were leaving." Snow said taking his future sister-in-law's arm in his and pulling her away from the coming fight.

"Snow let go!" Lightning shouted but was ignored as the party hastily made their exit without hesitation. "You moron." Lightning hissed as she punched Snow in the face as soon as they left

the room. As she went in for another strike Snow caught her fist and roughly slammed the young woman against the cold metallic wall. He held the struggling strawberry blond there until

her eyes returned to their normal piercing light blue color as opposed to the pulsating glow that had acquired earlier.

"Snow?" Lightning blinked as if she hadn't realized or remembered how she had got to where she was currently standing.

"Light?" Snow asked just as bewildered as her reaction had caught him off guard.

"How did we get here?" Lightning asked trying to get a hold of her senses again.

"Well I dragged you here? are you alright Lightning?" The large man asked the young woman whom he stood well above.

"I'm fine I guess, must have blacked out for just a second." She concluded waving the incident off. Snow decided against telling her that she had punched and so did the rest of their friends.

"So how do we get across this chasm?" Lightning asked motioning to the destroyed bridge which sat in ruin.

"Here I'll do it!" Serah jumped on the opportunity to use her summon for the first time as she called forth her crystal tear as it appeared and hovered before her for a few seconds before the

young girl threw it up in the air and tossed Lightning's survival knife up after it. The knife pierced the tear's surface and as it did so, a wall of water encircled her now summoned Leviathan

as it hovered up in the air. Serah pointed her finger towards the large gap and her summon obeyed the command as it stretched it's long body across it, creating a makeshift bridge for the

party to cross, which they did quickly. "Hey where did Cid go?" Sazh asked looking around the empty platform where they had fought both Cid and Fang.

"Cid? what are you talking about Sazh?" Lightning asked as she registered his words.

"Yeah he was with Fang when we fought her. I shot that fool right between the eyes." Sazh explained taking out one of his Vega 42's and mimicking the action.

"Yeah he was being controlled like Fang here." Vanille pitched in motioning to her unconscious friend who was in the arms of Amodar.

"Yeah only he was kind of like a hybrid Cie'th." Amodar said as Serah dismissed Leviathan.

"Oh." Lightning replied softly not knowing how to react. She had thought that he was dead but the fact being confirmed made her mind go blank.

"Let's go Claire." Serah whispered into her ear as Lightning nodded in agreement. They managed to get back to the hangar of the Palamecia with little to no difficulty only running into a couple

mobs of low ranking PSICOM enforcers who went down in a matter of seconds.

"Alright let's get out of this ugly place." Sazh grinned as he fired up their small airship before taking flight with it.

"So where too now?" Snow asked looking around at the airship's occupants. "You figure we should go get Hope?" He asked.

""Naw leave him be." Sazh shook his head at Snow.

"I want to go see Rosch." Lightning spoke up from her seat on the couch of the cabin.

"And for what reason may that be Farron?" Amodar questioned turning to face the former Sergeant who had been under his command.

"I want to know where the current location of the Doppelganger is." Lightning clarified looking towards her former superior.

"I don't know what your up to, but I'll have to trust you. Sazh take us to go see Rosch." Amodar spoke, his eyes not leaving Lightning's for a moment.

"And make sure she's sane before she wakes up." Lightning said motioning towards Fang's unconscious form.

"Yeah hopefully she is sane when she wakes up. I don't wanna have to fight her again." Snow said fearing a close quarters battle with the warrior woman.

"Speaking of the devil I call friend." Vanille said as Fang began to stir beside her on the couch opposite of Lightning and Serah.

"Damn girl, I wouldn't get that close to her." Sazh shouted back as Vanille scooted away, Lightning stood and drew her Blazefire Saber pointing the point of the sword at Fang's neck.

"Whoa whoa damn Light!" Fang shouted raising her hands up into the air as an act of surrender.

"Don't move." Lightning ordered firmly keeping her sword in place at the lethal position.

"Alright Light. Geez what crawled up your skirt?" Fang asked confused why Lightning was acting in such a manner.

"Are you sane?" Snow asked flicking Fang's forehead.

"Yes I'm sane. And what the hell did you do that for? you moron." Fang yelled at Snow who started chuckling.

"Don't worry Light she's back to normal." He laughed clapping Fang on the shoulder as she sat up on the couch. Lightning sighed before sheathing her Blazefire Saber.

"Sorry Fag. Ooops I mean Fang. Sorry." Lightning muttered sitting back down onto the couch as Fang gave her a blank stare.

"Since when did you get so funny?" She asked sarcastically rolling her eyes at the younger girl.

"Always have been. I just rarely show it." Lightning shrugged at the question.

"It's true." Serah said happily giving her sister a hug.

"So Fag. Ugh I mean Fang why were you all messed up back there?" Sazh asked as he put the airship on auto-pilot and went to back of the cabin where the others were located.

"Okay everybody stop calling me Fag alright? next person who does is getting a beating." Fang said sternly looking each of the occupants in the eye.

"Answer Sazh's question Fag." Vanille said but quickly covered her mouth afterwards with a fearful expression evident in her innocent green eyes.

"Aww you know I can't hurt you Vanille." Fang laughed before turning back to the rest of the party. "I don't exactly remember why I was messed up. It's all like a blur, a bad dream if you will."

Fang explained. "Do you remember anything?" Amodar asked giving her a very scholar like expression.

"I remember only a little." Fang started. "You know that fal'Cie you've been seeing Light? well I had the pleasure of seeing it first hand and in person."

"What happened?" Lightning asked, her fists subconsciously clenching at her sides.

"Well the beginning is a blur, I remember someone dying but not who exactly. Then it called forth Cid from god knows where and we fought. I lost and was brought under the fal'Cie's control."

"What fal'Cie is it?" Lightning asked as she crossed her legs with a yawn.

"I don't know, it never said it's name." Fang answered quickly.

"Hey wait a minute." Vanille interrupted Fang's vivid story telling. "Where's Cloud? last I remember you had run off after him like a love sick puppy." She gave Fang a playful nudge to her ribs.

"I have no idea where that loner is." The raven haired Oerba gave a shrug not remembering what had happened to the man.

"He'll turn up. Just like those people who always do." Sazh said optimistically.

"Wow Sazh your a real wizard with words you know." Snow joked, which earned him nothing but a slap to the back of the head by Serah. Not a bunch of laughs like he had hoped for.

"Let Fang finish her story." Serah reprimanded the man as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"And then me and Cid were sent to go and bring Lightning to this fal'Cie for a reason I was not told." Fang concluded the end of her story with a bow.

"I think I know what it wants." Lightning muttered clenching her fists again.

"Yeah?" Fang asked quirking a brow.

"It probably wants that crystal that it's been demanding for a while now." Lightning explained shrugging.

"But you don't have it." Fang pointed out quickly. Lightning let out a sigh before answering.

"That's right, Cloud took it wherever he went." She muttered mentally cursing herself for letting him do so.

"Alright Light. Were at Yaag's office." Sazh called to them as he looked out the window at the PSICOM building that stood tall in the sky.

"Alright I'll be back in a sec." She replied as Sazh expertly landed the small airship which didn't draw the attention of anyone due to it's size.

"Sis wait." Serah whispered to get her attention.

"What is it Serah?" Lightning asked turning to face her baby sister.

"I'm coming with you." She replied just as quiet as before, Lightning didn't say anything she only nodded her approval in response. The two sisters exited the airship and entered the official

PSICOM building. After a short stop at the reception desk they were on their way up to Yaag's office, alone in the elevator.

"So what do you want to ask Yaag?" Serah asked nervously intertwining her hands together, playing with her engagmentpendant Snow got her, and playing with the edge of her skirt.

Anything to help calm her nerves. "You didn't have to come Serah. But I know why you did and I appreciate it." Lightning smiled warmly at her sister. "But don't worry I'm not hear to do

anything stupid or reckless." Lightning comforted her with a squeeze on the small girl's shoulder.

"I know. I just wanted to be with you. Emotional support you know, so you don't feel alone." Serah explained with a smile of her own.

"I appreciate it too." Lightning answered as the doors to the elevator opened with a ding sound. "Here we are, just follow me and keep quiet okay?" Lightning asked softly as Serah began

to shake a little. She didn't reply only with a shake of her head. "Hey it's only Yaag, he helped us remember things will be alright." The young woman comforted her sister as Serah visibly

relaxed. "Greeting young Farrons." Yaag greeted as the two sisters entered his office a few minutes later.

"Yeah yeah." Lightning replied impatiently walking up to his desk and placing her hands on it, leaning over to get closer to Yaag's face. "I have a favor to ask you." She told him.

"Go on." was Rosch's simple reply with a wave of his hand.

"All's I need to know is where the current coordinates of the Doppelganger are, no questions asked." Lightning told him sternly.

"I'm afraid I can't disclose such information Lightning." Yaag spoke, his tone turning dead serious.

"Well you better." Lightning gritted her teeth growing quite impatient with the man.

"You better learn your place and who's calling the shots here." Rosch spoke confidently leaning back in his chair.

"Listen Yaag just tell us where it is and we'll be on our merry little way alright?" Lightning said trying to convince the man.

"I'm not telling you Lightning." Yaag leaned forwards in his chair and pressed the button on the intercom. "Send in security, we got a few renegade l'Cie in here." Yaag smirked as he looked

up at Lightning. The young woman growled before drawing her Blazefire Saber and pointing it at the Colonel in it's gun mode.

"I didn't want it to come to this Rosch."


	20. Chapter 19: Fragile Nature

Sisterly Love Chapter 19: Fragile Nature

Serah visibly tensed as Rosch spoke into the intercom. She had not expected things to go this way, the look on Lightning's face told that she was thinking the exact same thing.

Yaag leaned back in his chair with the same confident smile plastered on his face, Lightning held her position with her Blazefire Saber pointed at the man in it's gun form.

Serah was frozen to the spot in fear of the coming battle. Lightning was currently occupied with the quick math of how much time they had until the PSICOM guards burst through the door

showering the room with hundreds of led bullet casings. Five, maybe seven minutes she concluded before quickly walking behind Yaag's desk and grabbing the back of his shirt and

forcing his head into the computer terminal. "Open the file on the Doppelganger." The young woman commanded harshly jabbing the muzzle of her gun into the back of the colonel's neck.

"No." Yaag was rewarded with a smack to the back of his head courteous of Lightning's gun.

"Just fucking do it, Serah get over here." Lightning commanded, motioning Serah away from the door where the soldiers would be entering.

"Remember how you wouldn't answer me during my interrogation? well what goes around comes around I guess." Yaag smiled before Lightning fired off a round into his left thigh.

"Yeah, but I have more guts then you." Lightning snarled before smacking him across the face once more.

"Oh please Lightning. Do you really think a few smacks across the face and a bullet will be enough to make me comply? if so you are greatly mistaken." Yaag spoke, his smirk returning to his

face. "your right." Lightning replied before turning to Serah. "Survival knife please." She spoke softly upon seeing the worried look in Serah's eyes and body language. Serah complied

quickly handing the knife to her sister. Lightning took the weapon quickly and grabbed Yaag's right hand, forcing it down onto the table, readying the knife above the man's middle finger.

"I'm not bluffing Yaag." She hissed in a low voice, pressing the blade so it broke the skin on his finger.

"I think you are." The colonel responded in a monotone voice. Lightning sighed before bringing the survival knife up and slamming it back down onto his finger, effectively severing it from his

hand. "You never were a great judge of character." Lightning whispered into his ear as Yaag cried out as the burning sensation erupted from where his finger was cut.

Yaag was leaning over the desk, resting his forehead on the oak wood breathing heavily. Lightning twirled the knife in her hand before jabbing it into the front of his shoulder, forcing the strange

haired man back into his seat. "Fine fine I'll do it." Rosch gave in quickly as he held his right hand in his left. Lightning didn't reply as she simply pulled the knife from his shoulder and allowed

the man to go about bringing up the necessary files needed. Wiping the knife of it's coating of blood, Lightning handed it back to Serah while avoiding her sister's horrified gaze.

"There. It's just over the Sunleth Waterscape." The colonel breathed as Lightning gave a swift chop to the neck, knocking him out cold.

"Now what?" Serah asked as her eyes frantically glanced over to the door, as she expected the backup to come bursting in the door at any moment.

"Let's go for a little sky dive. What do you think?" Lightning asked flicking her head in the direction of the large glass window which stood behind Yaag's desk.

"Uh, I'm not so sure about that sis." Serah hesitated, looking between her sister and the window in which they were about to jump out of.

"Come on, you had no problem with it in Pulse." Lightning stated resting her hands on her hips.

"Uh yeah but we were being chased down by several PSICOM baddies." Serah replied as she recalled the memory from the depths of her mind.

"Do you really want to wait around for the security so it will have the same effect?" Lightning asked with a smile. "You know I have no problem with that." Grinned the elder Farron.

"Umm, no need. Let's go." Serah chuckled uneasily as she led the way over to the large glass window, peering out of it across the large city. Uncertainty marking her features.

"That's the spirit! don't worry it'll only take a second." Lightning smiled as she drew her Blazefire Saber and swiftly cut the window to several hundreds of pieces.

"Alright Lightning, don't mess up 'kay?" Serah asked nervously looking over to her sister.

"Of course I won't." Lightning replied as she walked over to her sister and took her into a tight hug, her back facing the now open hole in the wall. Without a moments hesitation the young

woman fell backwards with her little sister in her arms. Serah screamed as the two Farrons started their descent towards the roof of the small building attached to the main PSICOM base.

Lightning looked up to see the roof coming into range rather quickly, swifting twisting her body in mid air the strawberry blond landed gracefully on her feet with a shaken Serah.

Lightning checked to see if Serah was fine before quickly scanning the rooftop. She spotted an entrance a good fifteen feet from their current location. Pulling her baby sister with her, the

young woman made her way over to the door. Lightning scowled as she attempted to open the door only to find the entrance to be locked. pulling her Blazefire Saber from it's holster,

switched it into it's gun-mode before firing three shots in rapid succession effectively breaking the lock. Slipping inside both Farrons quietly made their way down the desolate hall, judging

by the looks of this part of the building Lightning guessed it to be an armory. Serah squealed lightly as a shadow appeared from around the next corner, quickly Serah pulled her sister into

the room beside the two. "That was close." The younger as the two breathed a small sigh of relief, her eyes now showing a slightly calmer demeanor.

"No kidding." Lightning replied before turning around to survey the room Serah had pulled the two of them into. Lightning turned and started to sift through the contents of the various shelves

that held many fine crafted weapons, most of which had gathered dust. Serah quietly sidled up to her sister's side, still feeling uneasy after the way she saw Lightning ruthlessly cut Yaag's

finger off. It was the look in Lightning's eyes that scared her, not the action itself. The way her light blue eyes had been pulsating in a mix of fury and frustration had been enough to render

the teenager frozen to the spot, unable to decide whether to try and stop her sister or not. Much to Serah's utmost relief, Lightning's eyes had returned to their normal color as occasional

curiosity flickered across the light blue orbs once she saw a weapon that caught her interest.

"What are you doing?" The younger Farron asked, her voice a display of anxiety and genuine interest in her sister's activities.

"Trying to find you a weapon." Lightning replied as she roughly shoved several weapons off to the side in her search to find something suited to both Serah's stature and abilities.

"But I have your survival knife." Serah stated pulling said weapon from it's place where it was strapped around her right thigh.

"That won't be enough to be your primary weapon sis. Magic doesn't work in close quarters and you can't always summon your Eidolon." Lightning stated as she took the knife from her sister's

grasp. Lightning seated herself upon one of the many dusty crates as she flipped the purple weapon open. Serah watched as the young woman placed the tip of the knife under the cast on

her left hand. In a quick motion Lightning pulled up and cut the medical adhesive from her arm, Lightning wasted no time in making quick work of the other. The strawberry blond then took

her red bag from it's place around her thigh and opened it and pulled her gloves, black sleeve, and shoulder armor from it. Placing said items back onto herself, Lightning put her bag back

around her thigh. Now dressed in her normal attire Lightning made her way back over to the weapons shelf.

"You know Light that was pretty random." Serah spoke as she watched her sister continue her tireless searching.

"I've been meaning to do that for a while now." Lightning shrugged as she pulled a weapon from the back of the shelf. Grinning in triumph, Lightning tossed the weapon over to her sister.

Serah juggled the weapon for a couple seconds before securing a tight grasp around it. Turning the thing over in her hands, Serah held a confused expression on her face.

"It's a glove." She stated after a few moments of inspecting it.

"It's not just a glove Serah, it's a gauntlet." Lightning sighed at her sister's lack of knowledge in the field of weaponry.

"Oooookay and what am I supposed to do with it? punch people in the face?" Serah asked frowning some more.

"Serah, your seriously not this dense are you?" Lightning asked bringing her right hand up to rest on her hip.

"You know I have no idea what I'm doing here." Serah complained. "And despite being told what this thing is I still don't know exactly what it is."

"It's a gauntlet with a weapon attachment Serah." Lightning informed taking the weapon from her sister. The gauntlet was a large glove that ended at the wearer's elbow. It was blue

with a gold plate on the knuckles, exactly like Lightning's own gloves. "Um what kind of weapon is this?" Serah asked as Lightning took her right glove off before slipping the gauntlet over

her right hand. "This little thing here may look useless but in all actuality it has a gun attachment." Lightning explained pointing her hand in a fist towards a rather convenient board used for

target practice that was resting against the north wall. "How do you shoot it?" The younger Farron asked as she hesitatly moved towards the tall strawberry blond.

"You see this thin bar here that your fingers go through?" Serah nodded. "Give it a light squeeze and there you have it." Lightning spoke as she performed said action, her shot landing exactly

in the bull's eye. "It's not the most reliable weapon when it comes to being a firearm. But it's better than nothing." The young adult spoke with a shrug. "But that's not all it's good for."

With a flick of her wrist, the gun attachment folded and expanded so that three separate blades now pointed from the knuckles of the glove. The blades were connected to the gauntlet via

a faded red bar which sat at a eighty-five degree angle. "Hey this thing looks like your Blazefire Saber." Serah exclaimed, her eyes going wide for a moment's time.

"You noticed that too." Lightning stated as she collapsed the three blades back into the gun attachment before handing the weapon to her sister and putting her glove back on. The younger

Farron slipped it securely onto her right arm. "Try it out." Lightning motioned to the old target on the far wall. Serah gave her sister a look of uncertainty before aiming towards the north wall.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Serah pulled the trigger. The shot missed the center by a good twenty centimetres, landing along the border of the target.

"Serah you can't close your eyes when your about to shoot somebody." Lightning sighed walking over to her sister. "And your form was wrong. Here let me show you." Lightning placed herself

behind Serah and grabbed the small girl's arm and forced it into the proper shooting position.

"Look sis, I don't think I'm cut out for this." Serah began trying to convince her sister that killing people just wasn't her thing.

"Nonsense Serah. Your a l'Cie." Lightning replied quick as her namesake as she ushered the small but tall girl to take another shot at the leaning target.

"Alright if you say so. But don't blame me if I miss or accidentally shoot you!" Serah gave her elder sister a look that was supposed to be conniving but turned out to be a very humorous expression.

"Oh please Serah. You can't even hurt me when we play fight. How do you expect to shoot me?" Lightning asked with a smile as Serah made a face of mock hurt.

"I could sooo shoot you if I wanted." The younger of the two shot back as Lightning began to chuckle. "What?" Serah asked as she watched her sister's reaction.

"Your like Snow." Lightning stated, her eyes shining as she gazed into her sister's eyes.

"Meaning?" Serah pushed, gesturing with her hands.

"Your all talk." The young adult laughed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"What? who thinks Snow is all talk?" Serah questioned unable to comprehend the possible fact of life.

"I do. And so does Vanille."

* * *

"So what do you think is taking those two so long?" Sazh asked as he casually leaned back in the cockpit of the rather convenient airship. It felt like the two Farron sisters had been absent for a half hour at the most but in all reality it had only been ten to fifteen minutes.

"Lightning probably thought it'd be a good idea to raise some hell before making a no doubt glorious exit." Fang supplied from her seat on the soft leather couch which sat along the Western wall of the flying vehicle.

"Right...of course." Snow spoke absent midedly, clearly worried about his fiance's safety. But she was within Light's care right? Serah's overprotective sister would let no harm come to her, he knew this was as much of a fact as they come but for some God forsaken reason the blond man couldn't help but think it was a mistake allowing the two Farron's to enter the PSICOM Headquarters alone. It was PSICOM for crying out loud! Yaag probably had a trap all ready to spring the moment the young girls entered the building. Looking back on the decision of the two to go on alone Snow found it quite obvious that Lightning must not have been in her right mind when she thought of this idea. Actually come to think of it, the large man had never seen their leader make quite a bold-and quite frankly-rash decision. Lightning was always one to think things out and prevent problems from occurring. That was one of the qualities that made her such a great leader among other things, and for those reasons she had been the only choice to become the appointed leader. Sure Snow led his NORA group, but that was just small time compared to the experience the younger girl had under her belt. After all she was the Bodhum security regiment's Raid leader. She made Snow look like a new recruit on his first day of deployment when you compared their leadership abilities side by side.

So naturally this decision that had been made had caused Snow to question their valiant leader's decision(something he had rarely-if ever-done in the past). Lightning only made decisions such as these if her emotions were clouding her thought process which prompted another thought of what was troubling the young woman. Snow was not the only one of their rag tag group of heroes who had noticed the dangerous choice made and he could see it in each and every one of their eyes that they knew something was up with the strawberry blond. While on the topic of the many issues surrounding his future sister-in-law Snow thought of the strange way her light blue eyes had been pulsating while on board of the Palamecia. Every emotion had been clear as the clearest day in her eyes. More notably when they had encountered Galenth Dysley, the one and only Primarch of the Sanctum. The one who pretended to "consult" the fal'Cie Eden on every move concerning the newly born l'Cie problems. Something that Dysley did had sparked something within Lightning's very soul. That something just took over and seemed to have the mind set of a crazed murderer stalking his or her victim from the shadows of a pitch black alley way. Where the only thought within the killer's mind was too take the life of another living being. Be it cat, dog, anything it wouldn't matter.

Maybe that it why Serah had gone with her sister? To prevent another rash decision or to get to the bottom of her sibling's problems. Either way Snow hoped that she had succeeded. He of course had no doubt in is mind that the woman he would marry would be able to get to the bottom of it. And help her sister retrieve her former stable mentality. It was then that the large explosion rung out in his ears.

* * *

It had taken a large quantity of attempts but Serah was finally able to improve her aim and effective use of the weapon. This brought a smile to Lightning's face as she saw that her baby sister was finally getting a hang of it. And that meant that they could finally get out of this hell hole.

"Alright. You think your confident enough to take that thing into the field?" Lightning had asked Serah after her sister had fired another round into the outer circle of the bull's eye. Just by looking at her your first impression would be that the girl wouldn't be able to fight. Due to her slim form and thin arms, but deep inside Serah carried an inner fortitude much like her sister's that enabled her to perform rather admirably. But only time would tell if she could carry that fortitude into the field of battle and take another's life. That was something that Lightning questioned with great concern. For Serah was fragile. A fact that Lightning had known for many years, a fact so plain that you could tell with just a single passing glance at the young teenager. Lightning offered up a small prayer to whatever fal'Cie would heed it that her sister's fortitude could surpass that fragile nature that has been Serah's calling card for the past eighteen years.

"We won't know until we give it a try huh?" Serah asked, the fragile nature that Lightning had been so concerned about masked her sister's features and slowly made it's way down until it even took control of her posture causing the girl to nervously wring her hands. One of them covered by the gauntlet which she would use to take one's life. Most likely within the next ten minutes. Lightning only hoped that it would not scar her. It was true that Serah had taken one's life before but that memory was long lost along with the day she was born. She had killed to protect her sister and that is what sprung her into action without hesitation. Lightning even questioned whether or not it was in a blind fury, she herself could not recall the event. Fang had been the one to confide that the event had taken place and even then with the tanned Oerba's vivid description it had been hard to believe that her sister had done it. Seeing it first hand was the only available cure in existence to believe that Serah has killed. And she would see it soon enough maybe even a little more than her liking, but she would. And that fact frightened her. For killing was something that Lightning never wanted Serah to take part in. But it was simply unavoidable now and she would have to go along with it until either they died or completed their focus. Turning cie'th was not an option therefore Lightning blocked out the possibility. _'Grin and bare it.' _She told herself. _'Grin and bare it until it's over, however it ends.'_

"It's the same for everyone when it comes to their first kill Serah." Lightning responded, purposely acting as if she didn't know that Serah had dealt the hand of death to another already. Serah's mind had clearly blocked the memory from the reaching the surface of her aware conscious, making it impossible for her to recall the memory from the large labyrinth that is her brain. Reading into this Lightning decided that it was for the better than Serah is unable to remember the moment in which she took one's life with a single plunge of her older sister's Blaze Edge. The sword she had put aside in favor of her father's Blazefire Saber. A weapon that may share the same design and functions but had a stronger and more balanced capacity when it came to both stength and magic. Her previous model had been considerably weaker the reason behind this had been revealed in the letter her father had left behind to keep watch over the blade. The Sanctum of old had believed the weapon to be too powerful to be carried by regular foot soldiers(even though it was only awarded to the best). So the Sanctum, had issued an order to have them all recalled save for the ones carried by the higher ranked officers of which Lightning and Serah's father had been apart of.

"Well here's hoping my first one goes over well." Serah responded before she gingerly opened the door leading into the hallway that may or may not be patrolled by PSICOM soldiers. Lightning could tell by Serah's posture that the hallway appeared to be clear of threats as her baby sister had not tensed as she no doubtfully would have if a soldier had pointed the muzzle of his rifle in her face. Looking back, Serah gave Lightning a thumbs up sign before moving into the desolate corridor. Quickly on her sister's heels Lightning pulled her back and took point. Always the leader.

The two made their way down the various halls of the Sanctum home front always being sure to check if the path was clear. Only on a couple of occassions had the hallways been plied with PSICOM soldiers. This struck Lightning as odd for this was the PSICOM Headquarters and it was just abnormal for there to be so little guards on duty and the ones who were was the rather green PSICOM enforcers. A group of trained recruits who would not be able to get the job done when push came to shove, especially with a l'Cie of Lightning's caliber. Memories of the past joint training sessions that her Regiment had participated in with the enforcers was fresh in Lightning's mind. She could remember easily defeating dozens at a time. Not to mention that this was before she became a l'Cie and harbored the power of magic and received her father's sword. And then there was always her Eidolon Odin.

"Where are all the baddies?" Serah asked as the two peeked around yet another corner. They were desperate need of a map, a way to get out would be a blessing in itself due to their current wandering down rather empty halls. Some of which had gathered dust. One explanation for the lack of enemy forces could be that they were in a semi abandoned building that was attached to the main attraction. That would explain why the Sanctum would care so less for such a building, showing their gratitude by placing such few guards to patrol it that a drunk deaf mute could sneak through it's inside with ease. In fact, the guards on patrol here were either newly hired and trained or on probation for some war crime they had committed against the Sanctum itself.

"This is most likely a forgotten warehouse type installation that they couldn't care less about. Place a few armed guards here and there and that'll be enough to scare away the hoodlums." Another explanation for the lack of security could be that PSICOM was setting the two up before springing a trap on them when they least expect it. Sucks for them since Lightning always is on the lookout for traps of any sort. With eyes as sharp as a flying eagle's she could see anything that didn't fit within a room. She had a sixth sense for the sort.

"Hmm I don't know sis. Something just doesn't sit right with me." Serah was crouched in front of Lightning and she looked over her shoulder to lay her eyes upon her sister. Looking down Lightning could see that the frantic fear and nervousness that was in Serah's voice was also present in her eyes. That was another thing about Serah, her eyes always portrayed her emotions to a tee. One of the many reasons that she was a bad lier. That and the fact that it is just not in her nature to be conniving enough to have something to lie about.

"I know what you mean. Keep your eyes open for an ambush." Lightning told her sister in a tone that was borderline that of an order. Lightning's head began to feel fuzzy, as if she had a sudden buzz going. Finding it difficult to stand she silently dropped to one knee beside Serah, making it so that her sister could not notice that something was off about her. Clutching her Blazefire Saber in it's gun form to her chest, she closed her eyes and rested her head against the metallic wall as Serah kept watch, still oblivious to her sister's sudden change in position. Lightning's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as a sense of direction began to form within her mind's eye, making it seem as if she had been here before. Serah turned to face Lightning just as the older of the two opened her eyes. Serah was able to catch a glimpse of Lightning's eyes pulsating blue which clearly displayed the confusion that she felt within her mind. It was only for a fleeting moment and then it was gone. Her light blue eyes returning to their normal color, once more putting a plate of thick iron armor around her emotions.

"You feeling alright Light?" The teenager asked, concern now masking both her face and eyes as she put an arm around Lightning's shoulders. Lightning let out a brief frustrated sigh but allowed Serah to keep her arm around her. After experiencing that brief episode just moments before the young adult now knew that they have been going in the wrong direction the whole time. Despite the fact that they were wandering the two still managed to keep a steady pace, heading into the direction opposite of the exit. The exit however was not an exit at all for it led back into the main building of the PSICOM Headquarters.

"Um yeah. Why do you ask?" Lightning asked feeling a tiny bit bewildered, her mind was still enshrouded in a foggy haze the kind that would be present on a muggy day. The fact that the haze was still present is what perplexed her. Brief thoughts of a brain tumor or aneurysm entered her mind but she was quick to dismiss them. Not wanting to think of something like that which would sideline her from completing her focus on time. But turning cie'th was not an option right? with that demeanor she knew she would fight with chemotherapy or not. Hair or no hair she would fight. After all it would give her an aero dynamic attribute wouldn't it? _'wait to have a sense of humor Light' _the young woman chuckled on the inside as the vision of herself-bald-flipping through the air and doing cartwheels among other things. But no it wouldn't come to that for the weight of possibly having cancer would turn her cie'th before the treatment could even begin.

"Oh it's nothing. Don't worry about it." Serah offered a fake and frail smile which Lightning could see straight through. Being able to read your sister like a book had both it's ups and downs. The ups consisted of knowing when your baby sister is lying to you and the downs being when you know you can't press for the truth. Being left with your imagination to run wild was not something Lightning particularly enjoyed. Having a vivid imagination also has it's downside it appears.

"Alright then." Lightning gave in giving her sister a lingering look in a last ditch effort to persuade her to spill the beans. But of course Serah also possessed the same stubborness like Lightning herself. The only difference being that Serah's is maybe a tad milder. Although if she wants to be stubborn as a rock Lightning wouldn't say that she couldn't be. Serah turned away quickly already knowing the look that her sister was giving her. It was the same look she would fall for and tell everything when they were children. There had been no secrets between them and they had been tight as they could possibly be. You wouldn't find one without the other.

"So um. Do you think were heading in the right direction?" Serah asked turning back to peek around the corner, which had no change done to it's security since the last time she had checked it. Serah's nervousness swam within her stomach as her worry continued to escalate with thoughts of taking another's life. _'W-what if I mess up and Lightning gets hurt because of it?' _Slowly but surely Serah was sure that she was forgetting the proper procedure in using her weapon, she couldn't remember if there was a button you had to press, or if just a flick of the wrist would be enough to switch it over to it's melee form. But she would not tell her sister that she forgot how to properly open the deadly thing, for she doesn't want to dissapoint her sister. One of the most important people in her life. In truth she did not put Lightning or Snow over one or the other. She loved them equally and would do anything for them. Even if it did include killing.

"Honestly? I don't think so." Lightning answered not bothering to inform Serah that a strange haze that blanketed her mind had shown her the direction in which the exit lay, waiting for them. That very haze had finally seemed to lift, allowing Lightning to access the depths of her mind once more. She made a mental note to look up and possible conditions that it could be a symptom of or maybe a condition on it's own. Serah turned and looked at Lightning over her shoulder, giving her sister the same look that she had received only moments before. Lightning being the great actor that she is pretended to ignore that look. Serah huffed before replying.

"Really? Now all of a sudden you have a sense of direction in this place?" Serah asked placing her hands on her hips while giving Lightning a truly questioning look. The young adult could clearly see that she was still pushing for the truth. Which was quite ironic seeing how she didn't even know where the sense of direction came from and how it nestled it's way into her brain. One could chalk it up to a guardian angel of sorts. An invisible hand guiding the two to safety all the while keeping a low profile. She would have to think carefully before replying to her sister's question for a simple 'I guess so Serah' wouldn't cut it.

"Would the answer: a women's intuition cut it?" Lightning asked hoping that it would meet Serah's standards but very well knowing that it would not. Sometimes Serah could be so stubborn and manipulating with her words that you were left with no choice but to tell the truth. Lightning suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for Snow. Did he even know Serah could be this way when she felt the need be? It's not that it was overly bad, it's just sometimes there are things you'd rather not tell. And Serah always needed to know everything. Lightning knew for certain that Snow better not cheat on her for she would find out within a matter of minutes. And then he would have to face the wrath of Sergeant/Raid Leader/Appointed Leader Lightning Farron.

"Not in my book it doesn't." Serah replied stubbornly placing her hands on her hips. Oh so she has a book does she? although the strawberry blond knew it was joke she couldn't help but visualize a rather thick leather bound book titled: "Serah's Book of Proper Answers and Telling the Truth" it would no doubt be an "Eden Times Bestseller."

"You know you should let me take a look at that book sometime. I bet it's a good one thousand and five-hundred pages." Lightning answered her sister with a smile that portrayed both innocence and cunning. Serah's eyes squinted slightly in-most likely-annoyance and suspicion. She looked quite cute with that expression drawn across her face which rivaled that of a caricature. Lightning noted so with a small smile that slowly spread wider until it enveloped her lovely features in a broad grin. Serah did not seem pleased by her sister's reaction. Her face said it all. Quickly sobering up Lightning offered a playful shrug to which Serah rolled her eyes in response. "Oh come on I was just joking." Lightning told her once more smiling that broad grin of hers. Although she didn't show it on the outside, Serah was jumping with joy at how happy Lightning appeared to be despite the position the two found themselves in. What with being behind enemy lines and all. But that wasn't anything to worry about now was it? To Lightning Farron it appeared not.

"Glad to see that your so relaxed in such a place." Serah spoke dryly. The effect she was going for clearly covered up the happiness that she felt swell within herself. And for once Lightning was unable to read her sister's emotions via her eyes. That was a first but she wouldn't know that as Serah's dark blue orbs displayed the dry tone in which she had excersized. It appeared that Serah may have been more aware of her "tells" than Lightning had originally thought although that was quite unlikely as one would not normally know if they had a tell or not.

"Well with the experience I have you just get to feel at home you know?" Lightning responded as the two stood to their full height. Serah about a head shorter than her sister. Lightning started to lead them back in the direction of the exit when the sound of metallic armor clapping against the floor reveberated through the floor. Lightning drew her Blazefire Saber as Serah timidly took a few steps back, clutching the gauntlet to her chest. Throwing a quick glance over her shoulder Lightning saw the way Serah was reacting and let out a sigh. "Come on Serah you can do this." She encouraged softly. It took a few moments but Serah reluctantly gave a slow nod, saying she would try. Pointing her Blazefire Saber in it's gun form towards the next corner Lightning awaited to see how many of the soldiers were coming to either eliminate or capture them.

"This is just our luck huh?" Serah asked chuckling nervously as the running footsteps inched their way closer to the two Farrons. With each step Serah's nervousness jumped up another point on the scale but she was able to ignore it and point her gauntlet towards the corner as well. As she finished that sentance the first soldier appeared from around the corner and the sound of Lightning's gun echoed throughout the building before the man dropped dead with a bullet hole right between the eyes. This halted the other soldiers for a moment before that decided to turn the corner. Lightning casted a thundaga spell that dropped more of the hostile enemy. They were only Enforcers, their dark green armor said enough to give one the hint. Switching her weapon to it's sword form Lightning rushed into the growing pack and started to dismember limbs with swift, accurate strikes. Serah let out a cry as she fired her weapon into the mob, the shot landed on one of the Enforcers thighs causing the man to cry out in pain. Lightning spun and took the man's head off with another accurate strike. Another unlucky enforcer made an attempt at landing a strike on Lightning but the nimble young woman jumped over his blunt weapon and snapped his neck elegantly with her smooth toned thighs. Front flipping off the man's-now limp-body Lightning performed a sweep kick and grounded another four soldiers without much effort. Faced with another line of soldiers carrying rifles, Lightning began to perform a series of cartwheels as they opened fire upon her. Concluding her impressive display with a perfectly executed back flip Lightning landed behind the soldiers who were not fast enough to realize where she had landed. Pulling the pin on one of the soldiers grenades the strawberry blond performed enough backflip while switching her sword into it's gun mode and landing a precise shot on the man's grenade effectively killing the lot of them.

Serah was having her own troubles as she futily tried to force herself to finish off the man who had collapsed in front of her. A bullet wound in his abdomen had caused him to do so. A clean shot to the head would be enough to put him out of his misery. He was just gonna bleed to death anyway right? so why make him suffer any more than he has already? Serah slowly lifted her weapon as the man's gasps and hacking only made it harder for her. Finally she was able to fire a single round into his skull instantly ceasing the man's struggles for another breath. Fresh tears streaked dowm her face as the fact had just seeped into her mind that she had killed. Taken someone's life who may or may not have been a father and that is what cut her the deepest. Just thinking of the family's reaction when they heard the news was heart breaking even if it was to save her own life which suddenly didn't feel as important.

"Serah!" Lightning's call caused the girl to raise her head only to see her sister seemingly pointing her gun in her general direction. Her eyes widened in fear just as Lightning pulled the trigger. Squeezing her eyes shut as the bullet sailed over her head. Serah slowly opened her eyes and turned to see the final PSICOM enforcer with a brand new bullet hole in his heltmet courtesy of her sweet sister. "You alright?" Lightning asked as she walked over and embraced Serah as she feebly nodded her head. Thoughts of would have happened if Lightning had not been there in that precise moment quickly invaded her mind. The floodgates of her brain fell, allowing the horrid thoughts to enter her mind uncontested.

"Um yeah...are you?" The younger of the two asked after a moment of savouring the feeling of being alive. Lightning responded with a silent nod as Serah slowly looked her up and down to see if there was any visible injuries on her beautiful body. There was not a single one. "I killed Claire." Serah choked out after a moment. "I killed." She repeated as if in shock, which in Lightning's mind she thought the small girl may very well be.

"You had no choice." Lightning replied softly as she hugged her sister and ran her hands through her hair. Serah leaned into her and finally let the tears flow in full force. Although silent Lightning could tell that Serah was crying so she gave her a comforting squeeze. "Your alright kiddo. Your alright." Lightning spoke softly as she gave her sister a kiss on top of her head. "Now we should get going before more think of pursuing us." Serah nodded at her sister's suggestion as the two started down the once desolate corridor but now littered with bloody corpses. Serah admired how quickly and gracefully Lightning was able to dispose of the threat. The way her hair had whirled along with the spins she performed as well as how the toned muscles on her arms and legs flexed with each movement was a beautiful work of art in itself.

"So how much farther now?" Serah asked after a good ten minutes of maneuvering the enemy base. Her feet were beginning to hurt and she could feel the start of a headache coming on. Somewhere in the depths of her mind, Serah questioned whether or not the two of them would be able to escape this horrid place. The fact that this was the smaller of the two connecting buildings made the task feel rather daunting. Despite the fact that they were able to walk right up to the front desk to find out Yaag's where abouts. Thinking about how easy it was to climb the building without hostility now made it clear that it must have been a trap to begin with. Yaag faking his loyalty to them in order to spring his master plan as soon as they were within the heart of the beast itself.

"Hmm I don't know Serah. I haven't been here before remember?" Serah nodded to her sister's question and continued silently. Thinking it best not to mention how much her feet hurt her Serah trudged along watching her sister's back thoughtfully. _'I've often wondered why Claire enlisted with the Guardian Corps when our parents died. Sure it was pretty much the only job for her but with her looks I figure she could have just became a model. Hmm but looking at her now I see that she wanted to do something that would help people instead of a senseless job with no real meaning behind it.' _Serah's thoughts cut themselves off as Lightning caught her hand and jerked her backwards. Lost within her own thoughts the young girl hadn't noticed that she nearly walked right into a pack of PSICOM soldiers. What a sight that would have been.

"Whoa." The young girl breathed as the truth of what could have happened began to dawn upon her. What would have happened if Lightning wasn't there? how many times was she going to have to be saved by her sister before she would smarten up? Yes it was true that she had also saved Lightning once before, but the number of times where Lightning saved her ass seemed to dwarf that by a little more than one too many. It was after realizing how much her sister looked out for her that Serah resolved to toughen up and be more careful for both her sake and her sister's. "This is ridiculous. Why not just summon our Eidolons and blow through the wall?" Serah finally asked frustrated with their lack of being any closer to their goal.

"Because I'm trying to avoid a big fight." Lightning told her sister sternly, Serah shrunk back with a sheepish smile. Lightning ruffled her hair with a bright smile to cheer her sister up. Like always it worked like a charm. Lightning peaked around the corner and surveyed the situation, three PSICOM guards not much of a threat but make too much noise and it won't make a difference. From the looks of it the two guards were covering the only exit back into the main PSICOM building. Whether or not they were a competent pair or not was impossible to tell, Lightning however was confidant in her abilities and therefore set forth to creating a plan within her head. Throwing a grenade down there would be too loud so that was out of the question, quick precise shots to the head was also out of the equation as there was three of them and that would leave one left maybe two pending on how accurate and lethal Serah's shot would be. For a brief moment Lightning entertained Serah's idea of just busting out a wall with their Eidolons. It would be one way to end this rather frustrating experience right? But it would most likely draw attention to the others who were still waiting in the airship.

"I say we just run in and kill them quickly. Hope for the best you know?" Serah provided which in itself surprised Lightning. Serah was never one to make suggestions in such a dangerous environment. She would always smile and go with whatever the leader-Lightning-decided the best coarse of action to be. For this reason Lightning humored her sister and agreed upon what she had said. After all they were just PSICOM enforcers right? what's the worst that could happen? maybe they said a group of equally weak soldiers to come and subdue them. Big deal they were nothing to Lightning Farron.

"Alright Serah. You take the lead." Lightning smiled, confident in her sister's ability to survive. As expected Serah seemed bewildered she had-no doubt-expected Lightning to take the lead and eliminate the threat without breaking a sweat. But she had never in a thousand years expected to lead the charge. This lead the young teen to question whether or not she was competent enough to avoid injury or botch the whole thing altogether. Lightning however seemed confident in her ability and that was enough to get the courage and pride to swell within her heart.

"Y-your not gonna lead?" She asked tilting her head to the right in an act of innocence.

"Why would I lead? it was your idea." _'Although not the best I admit. But she's got to get used to such things if she's going to be able to survive. This is but the calm before the storm. I have a bad feeling that things are going anywhere but uphill from here. I don't know how, but things are gonna get worst.' _Lightning thought after confirming that Serah would be leading the assault.

"B-but your the leader!" Serah argued. Suddenly feeling the need to pass the leadership off after she had been so confident to lead the two. Remembering her resolve, Serah put up a shield to cover her emotions and nervous disposition. With a quick-albeit reluctant-nod she turned to face the corner where the PSICOM soldiers were waiting. Taking in a deep breath, Serah steeled herself for what was to follow. Running around the corner, the small girl had no idea what she was doing in the first place and therefore was lost altogether. Doing the first thing that came to mind Serah fired a round off into one of the PSICOM soldiers. The bullet drilled it's way deep into his right shoulder, causing him to drop his rifle. The other two guards quickly turned towards the girl with a quick spin (they were facing the exit. Not very smart of them to do so) and the one on the right fell instantly as Lightning's bullet found it's way deep within the man's skull within seconds. The final guard turned and fired a series of bullets towards Lightning, easily pegging her as the more challenging competition. His bullets however did not peg her at all as they flew around all sides of the young woman without a single one landing. Cursing the lone soldier pulled a grenade from his belt and prepared to throw it when Serah accurately shot him in the head. His legs crumpling beneath him, the soldier fell to the floor with a final groan before he stopped breathing. Standing stock still, Serah registered what had happened into her mind. She had killed. Not the for the first time today but that didn't stop it from impacting her the most.

"Hey-" Lightning started as she placed her hand on her sister's shoulder in an act of comfort. Serah shook all the negative thoughts from her mind as she realized how soft she was acting. That is what she was trying to avoid. She was being childish. Crying over something that had forced her hand and she had reacted. Look at Lightning, she wasn't crying. _'But she had extensive training.' _Serah told herself over and over again. Drilling the fact into her brain.

"I'm fine." Serah spoke in a calm and steady voice, a stark contrast to what she had been feeling only moments ago. "Shall we?" She asked motioning towards the door the guards had been guarding moments before. To her own surprise Serah's strides were as steady as her voice had been, her legs no longer felt as if they were jelly. Maybe she was getting past the emotional trauma of seeing and dealing death first hand? she hoped for both answers of yes and no. That way she would be able to survive through this whole mess and at the same time refrain from turning into a cold blooded killer. Not that she thought her sister was or anything of the like. In fact she knew that many a night Claire would have nightmares and sometimes those nightmares were constructed solely of the faces that belonged to those she had killed.

"You know you really are taking after Snow." Lightning stated as the two continued towards the door. Serah turned towards her, a frown ever present on her face. Silently demanding an explanation. "You just rehashed the only plan that has ever come to his ever so small and simple brain." Serah's frown deepened. Did she really just take Snow's plan for her own? if so then maybe Lightning was right when she said that Snow wasn't too bright. "To charge in guns blazing." Lightning rolled her eyes at how stupid it sounded to say out loud. Serah couldn't keep the laugh in as the thought of her and Snow sharing the same strategy just cracked her up. And she thought she was smarter than him. But she is rather inexperienced in this area right? yeah let's go with that.

"So that's a good thing then right?" Serah teased knowing that her sister was not one hundred percent sold on the matter of her marrying Snow. Lightning replied only by rolling her eyes once more. Serah stifled a chuckle as the two reached the door. Once it opened they realized that it was not just a door but rather an elevator. With a shrug Lightning entered the small box along with her suspicions. Never the less they would risk it, better that than wandering around this place for another hour or two. The elevator doors closed with a ding before automatically climbing the floors without a push of a button. Lightning groaned it appeared that it was a trap. _'Just perfect what a way to spend my Sunday.' _She groaned irritated.

Drawing her Blazefire Saber, Lightning leaned towards Serah's ear. "You flick your wrist to get the blades to come out." She told her which surprised Serah but also relieved her. _'So she had known all along.' _She chuckled inwardly with a shake of her head. So she tried it out with a flick of the wrist and as expected, the three small blades opened up from their compartment and came to rest out in front of the gauntlet. Just as this transformation ended, the doors to the elevator opened with another ding. They were not on the rooftop of the main PSICOM building. It felt odd that an elevator would come up to the roof let alone on it's own and this held Lightning on edge. Together the two Farrons slowly walked out onto the rooftop. Lying right in front of them was an odd looking contraption that could very well be a flying machine, however it didn't look too much like one. Behind them the elevator dinged once more as it traveled back down the many floors below them. Turning back to the machine, Lightning noted that the machine had a face. It looked more like a tribal mask then anything else. Serah hovered behind Lightning by a good two meters, a mask of uncertainty clouding her features. There was no way in hell that she was going to go near that thing. It gave off a strange vibe. One that helped her in keeping her distance. The tribal mask face that the machine adorned was ominous. It's eyes pierced into the very depths of one's heart or maybe that was just Serah? but in the end it didn't make a difference as Lightning currently running her right hand along it's smooth metallic surface.

"What is it?" Serah asked, her voice seemed to croak and also rivaled that of a mouse. Lightning didn't respond for a good couple of minutes. She seemed to be in a state of trance, gazing deeply into the tribal mask face. Maybe she was sizing up a possible opponent? or maybe even contemplating whether or not they should attempt to hijack the thing for an easy escape back to the ground level.

"I'll answer that question for the both of you." It was Yaag. He had quickly regained consciousness and now stood in the elevator that had just risen to the pinnacle of the building. Lightning didn't turn, she only smirked to herself. Now she would be able to kill Yaag off for good. She had never trusted him, even after what he had done for them in the hospital. And now was the perfect opportunity to end his life. "It's a simple war machine. Constructed to deal with you resilient l'Cie." Yaag smiled at this. "It's my personal chaperon."

"You always were in need of one to look over you." Lightning spoke without turning to face the man. Anger flashed across Yaag's face at the younger girl's insulting comment. Lightning gave a small laugh as she heard the Colonel's angered growl. He was too easy to provoke, a few more insults and he would charge. Giving her the opportunity to get a fatal blow in. The sound of Yaag drawing his long sword came to her ears and she instantly tightened her own grip on her Blazefire Saber. It seemed that no more sassy comments were needed as booted footsteps echoed across the rooftop. Biding her time, Lightning waited until she was sure and then spun at the last possible moment. Yaag's sword struck the face of the machine causing his arm to recoil greatly. Lightning concluded her spin with a deep cut opened across Rosch's back. The dark color of blood coated her beloved sword as Yaag fell to one knee with a single cry of pain. Raising her sword above her head, Lightning prepared to deliver the final blow. Her blade did not finisht he Colonel off like expected. Instead it cut through a ghost of a shadow as Yaag's body turned a blue shade of transparency before disappearing into the war machine.

"Should have finished me when you had the chance." Yaag's voice resonated from within the machine. It held a mocking tone to it. Lightning growled as the machine rose into the air, the legs it had on the ground folded out to form wings. "Prepare to face my wrath that is the Proudclad!" Rolling her eyes, Lightning charged her enemy and began slashing at it in a angered frenzy. Serah began casting her low level spells down upon the machine. The thunder spell dealing the most damage. Lightning switched her strategy and started adding elemental attributes to her sword in an attempt to weaken the Proudclad's armor with the help of Serah's spells. Due to the low level of her spells, Serah was able to cast multiple at a time which did wonders in pounding their armored enemy. The Proudclad fired an energy blast towards Lightning which she nimbly avoided by flipping safely away. The yellow blast of fire left a small crater upon the rooftop. Lightning casted a thundaga spell that sent the Proudclad reeling. It was staggered. Rushing forward Lightning jumped up to it's eye level and started to slash wildly at that ominous tribal mask face. A few moments later Serah joined in, her attacks were much weaker than her sister's but the added help was nothing to complain about.

Lightning briefly observed Serah's movements to see that she was surprisingly quite competent when in the field of battle. With her initial worries gone, Lightning turned back to the Proudclad and smited it down to the roof top with a powerful swing of her sword. Yaag's cry from within the machine's cockpit could be heard as the Proudclad collided with the roof. Sparks flew from various places which prompted Lightning to think that it was still in it's prototype stages. Yaag's machine struggled to it's "feet" before firing a light blue beam, Lightning rolled to the side but Serah was caught in the beam. Her cry of agony pulled at Lightning's heart. When the attack was completed Serah crumpled to the ground silently. Lightning turned to face the Proudclad, her strawberry blond hair whirled as she did so. Her expression changed into one of murderous intent as her light blue eyes began to pulsate dark blue in her fury. Rushing the metallic machine, Lightning shot a few bullet holes into it's sides before she front flipped up onto the cockpit. Although Yaag wasn't visible Lightning still guessed that his face was contorted with both anger and confusion.

Changing her Blazefire Saber into it's sword mode, Lightning began to hack furiously until a dark black smoke began to rise from the Clad that was proud. Pulling a stray grenade she had pocketed while in the armory, Lightning pulled the pin and threw it into a newly formed hole. Back flipping off the Proudclad, Lightning quickly scooped Serah up off the ground. She was unconscious. Lightning pumped her toned legs as quickly as she could and jumped off the side of the rooftop just as the Proudclad exploded.

* * *

wow I'm so so so so sorry that it took so long to update. My computer broke down and I just got a new one not too long ago. But I say good riddance to that thing, it was older than me XD oh and yeah finally got my formatting sorted out :P Gaminex helped a little with that by the way. Anyways this is long overdue so I'd like to thank all of you who have reviewed: I'll start off with **MiniLight**: who always is good for a small essay on each chapter XD thanks for putting so much thought into your reviews. There much appreciated. **Pulse99: **Thanks for all your positive comments as well as the help you offer. **The Red Kunoichi**: A long time reviewer. A chapter never feels complete unless you review it, thanks Red**! Judge Ghost-roach: **you may change your pename again tomorrow but your reviews will always be appreciated! **Taeniaea: **Both your reviews have consisted of two words each but their greatly appreciated! **Calisfur: **I know I know, I'll update your story as soon as I can get in the groove for it. I know you don't review too much but they always put a smile on my face. **Puppyfriend: **Thanks for your review last chapter. Yeah I made my minimum for each chapter 10,000 words so I hope you enjoyed this one! **Mobius14: **Yeah I didn't like that part either *shiver* but I'm glad you like the story, thanks for your review! **Johan07: **Who I peg as the biggest LightXHope fan on all of fanfic, thanks for your reviews and I'll try to get Hope more involved in the story. **Low Battery Life: **Thanks for your reviews! yeah Jihl did have it coming for a while, however I can't help but miss that crazy woman XD **Gagboy: **thanks for your flow of thoughts on each chapter. **The anon reviewer Big Bro who is actually my big brother:** Your reviews are probably the only dispensible ones I have XD just joking, you know I love them :P **Anon reviewer FFXIII is my life: **Thanks for your comments on each chapter! **Axelkairi: **thanks for your two reviews on the early chapters :) **Grimmjuchas: **thanks for your review and I hope my new writing style didn't upset you. **Floutistvivi: **Who is editing and posting the chapters on DA(you guys should check it out!) thanks for doing so by the way :) your reviews have much love :) **RetardedFool(that's their pename, I'm not insulting anyone :P): **real glad your liking it! and I hope your eyes don't hurt after reading the chapter :) although you never did what you said you'd do :( XD **ChenChong91: **your review made my day :) glad you love the story, still got some more plot twists up ahead =D **The anon reviewer Cali Digout: **Glad you liked it despite the creepiness in that chapter XD **The anon reviewer name: **yeah it was a challenge writing 10,000 words of just fighting, glad it wasn't boring though! **the anon reveiwer HopeXLightning: **no Lightning doesn't like Hope that way in the story :P but thanks for your review! **Master of Chronicles: **Thanks for reviewing chapter one, hope to see more from you! **the anon reviewer Riku91: **yup I was sitting on the Jihl l'Cie thing for a while and decided to finally include it, thanks for your review. **AzureKate: **The biggest Hope fangirl I know. Thanks a million for your trio of reviews, it did take a while for Hope to enter the story like I said a little bit up there, I'll get him more involved in the story. **The anon reviewer SPG: **Thanks for your reviews, glad your enjoying the story :) **Naunen: **Thanks for your review, and I hope Cid's return made you warm and fuzzy inside :) **The anon reviewer Oxy(who might be oxybusy, I don't know O_O) : **thanks for your review, and I can't believe I missed that simple grammar mistake until you pointed it out XD thanks! **Kaelyn the Hedgehog: **Thanks for your review! much appreciated :) **Darktrichecus: **Thanks for your review, the Light/Serah reunion is my favorite part of the story :) **oxybusy: **haha Fang always wins XD **Fusion90xxxx: **Glad you liked the story early on, I really hate the early chapters XD thanks for your review! **LadieJamie178: **Thanks for your review! like I said before, I never really liked the early chapters :S **Yuki Minamoto: **Thanks for your advice it really helped a lot! thanks for your review :) **Poxexpress: **I was hoping my first review would be memorable...unfortunatly for me it was not XD yes the paragraph is everyones friend :)

Wow fellas I didn't expect it to take that long but it was long overdue so thanks to all my reviewers as well as the people who faved, and subscribed to the story! you guys and gals are what keeps me writing! oh and how do you guys like my new writing style?


	21. Chapter 20 Part One: Learning to Fly

**Um yeah kinda have the feeling that I should let you all know that this isn't a Farroncest story :P just in case you interpreted the name of the title the wrong way. It's simply a story where Lightning and Serah bond as sisters, along with a kick ass plot am I right =D?... no? you guys hurt my feelings T_T XD**

**Anyways we got a new cover made by my bestest friend Sheldon Yeung, thanks a bunch Sheldino!**

**Front: www . tinypic . com/view . php?pic=4rvqu0&s=7**

**Back: www . tinypic . com/view . php?pic=1z50j7q&s=7 **

Sisterly Love Chapter 20 Part One : Learning To Fly

Vanille sat upright as she was brought out of her deep sleep from the rumbling sensation that had engulfed the airship. The young Oerba rubbed her eyes before glancing around for her friends. Snow was leaning over the couch opposite of her. He seemed to be gazing up at something, the most reasonable guess would be some sort of explosion. Sazh was making sure his chocobo chick was alright, gently patting his afro while Amodar seemed to be awakening from a stupor of his own. Gazing around the cabin of the ship, Vanille didn't see Fang present. Wondering where the older Oerba could have possibly wandered off too, Vanille climbed to her feet feeling the tickling pin pricks in her legs as the physical use of them brought them from their own doze.

"Where's Fang?" The red-head asked leaning to look out the window along with Snow. The large blond turned to her with a shrug and a look of confusion plastered on his face. It was quite evident with the one glance that he didn't know where the woman in question had wandered off too. That was Fang though, always wandering off somewhere. Like a small child that got away from his or her parents in an amusement park.

"I have no idea." Snow spoke quickly as he strapped his Power Circle emblem to his back preparing for a fight. Gazing back out the window Vanille was able to see the flaming carcass of a machine which sat atop the tall skyscraper. Just by looking at the scene she was able to tell that Lightning had something to do with it. There valiant leader always had a thing for flashy explosions, just look at her hair it's just as flashy. Just without the explosion part.

"Should we wait in case Lightning and Serah come back here?" Vanille asked. She was nervous. The constant wringing of her hands as well as the gleam in her eyes made it quite obvious to her companions that she was frightened by the sudden anarchy.

"Thus we are in the classic position of 'should we go or should we stay?'" Sazh spoke up as he loaded one of his ever faithful Vega42's. "The classic plight where if we go they come back and if we don't go they don't come back." The middle aged man seemed to be speaking in a scholar like tone of voice. "Actually if my memory serves me correct, we've been here before." This little fact seemed to amuse him the most, his chocobo chick squealed in agreement.

"Your memory never serves you correct old man." Snow groaned at how irritable Sazh could be with a cheery demeanor in such a time of panic. Snow blocked Sazh's tirade out as he went on another rant of how he wasn't _that _old. And how he was just entering his early forties along with how kids these days have no respect for their elders. Some elder Sazh would make. The last time Snow checked, elders were wise and extremely old. Not carefree middle aged men.

Without a single word, Vanille pulled her Binding Rod from it's place at the small of her back and made her way to the door, opening it without hesitation. "Amodar and Sazh. You two should stay here in case they do come back." The young girl called over her shoulder as Snow wasted no time in joining her at the entrance of the small domestic airship. Looking around the outdoors, Vanille concluded that the coast was clear and that most of the PSICOM soldiers would be up on the roof, investigating the explosion. Vanille-surprisingly-took lead over the big man as she started to run towards the Northern wall of the PSICOM Headquarters.

"Hey what exactly is your plan Van?" Snow asked as he caught up with the younger girl. "I mean it's not like you can know where Light and Serah will just wind up." The broski clarified before looking over his shoulder to verify the fact that no soldiers were behind the duo. Vanille didn't answer for a moment, as she peaked around the corner of the building, her pig-tails bobbing along with the movement. Turning around Vanille gave Snow an annoyed look.

"Are you just asking so you can feel assured?" Her accented voice drifted to Snow's ear drums. In truth the bulky man was looking for some kind of reassurance. And since it was Vanille he expected to find some, however it looked like he was fresh out of luck on this fine day. Upon seeing the emotion of disappointment flash across Snow's face, Vanille gave him an answer. "Well heroes don't need plans right?" At this Snow gave a curt nod, remembering the many times in which he had said those words. "Well I'm a hero too then." Vanille answered, veering off her usual sunny nature into a much darker adobe.

"Now that's just cold." Snow muttered as the two slinked around the corner carrying hopes of finding the Farron sisters deep within their hearts.

* * *

The smell of smoke filled her lungs. The throbbing in her head wasn't helping her either. And the dull ache that seemed to envelope all of her being within it's icy embrace is what really began to piss her off. Her sudden sensitivity to light gave her the choice to keep her eyes closed or open them and endure the searing pain that would follow shortly after doing so. Serah Farron let out a frustrated huff as her current state began to replace each and every one of her-once optimistic-thoughts. She had no clue as to her where abouts and hadn't even opened her eyes since passing out on the rooftop. Gunshots were audible within in the distance. _'Wait gunshots?' _Becoming more alert, Serah slowly opened her eyes to test their sensitivity. Once opened she gazed around the small alcove in which she was concealed. Her resting place was a small alley in between two skyscraper buildings, it was dirty-like most alleys-and the smell that always accompanied smoke populated the air. Serah sat up against the dead end that was located behind her and began to rub her eyes. Once the task was done, Serah gingerly climbed to her feet and started to make her way down the narrow alley. Lightning wasn't present, that was apparent enough. If her over-protective sister had been around she would have instantly been peppered with questions concerning her state of being before she would be able to open her eyes. Reaching the end of the narrow corridor formed by the tall buildings flanking both her left and right sides, Serah carefully peeked around the corner to find that the gunshots from before had ceased. The air now carried a silence that would only be found before a raging storm, and this-to say the least-unsettled the unfortunate teen.

Gripping her engagement pendant in her right hand, Serah started to make her way around the building. Her thoughts were completely overcome with one question: where did Lightning go? and every now and then another would squeak in: when did I pass out? and what happened afterward? the young girl stopped abruptly in her path just as a PSICOM soldier ran past the alleyway, luckily withot glancing down it. Taking a look at the gauntlet that covered her right hand and forearm. With a sigh she continued forward until she reached the end of the alley. Peeking around the corner Serah could see a group of PSICOM enforcers running towards an isolated location about fifty feet away from her current position. Deep in her mind she knew it was either Lightning or Snow. Sazh, Vanille and Amodar wouldn't be brash enough to draw that much attention to themselves.

"Hey there kiddo, how long are you gonna stand there?" Serah gasped and turned at the sound of Fang's voice. Lo and behold she was standing right behind her with a smirk drawn upon her face. "It's not nice to stare y'know." The green eyed woman chuckled at her own joke.

"Yeah and it's not nice to sneek up on people." Serah shot back hoping to look annoyed like her sister would be but Fang could see the relief seeping through her cold mask. No matter how hard she tried Serah just could not act cold towards another, in that sense she would never be like her sister.

"So where's the other pink haired goddess?" Fang asked as she came to a stop beside the small girl, who still held onto her facade like a small child would to there teddy bear.

"Um I don't know." The eighteen year old admitted, immediately shifting her gaze to the ground to avoid having Fang see the fear that was evident in her eyes. The raven haired Oerban let out a sigh before tilting Serah's face upward with her index finger.

"You got a shiny new toy there I see." She spoke nodding her head to Serah's right forearm. "How about we go try it out, and if we do stumble across your sister while doing so, then that's good too I guess." Fang encouraged as she walked past the younger girl and into the open sidewalk.

"Your not one to comfort with words are you?" The strawberry blond girl asked as she ran to catch up with the taller woman's stride.

"What gave you that idea?" Fang asked with another chuckle, she seemed to be in a pleasant mood.

"Well...your words did." Serah shrugged. She wasn't entirely comfortable around Fang, sure Lightning knows her well and is good friends with her but in truth Serah knew very little about the exotic amazon before her. Which as one could guess, is a little unnerving.

"Oh really? I never thought that they would." Fang replied with a wave of her hand.

"Um really?" Serah asked, she really didn't know how to socialize with Fang when Lightning wasn't around.

"Relax kid, I'm kidding." Fang laughed again as she patted the smaller girl's shoulder.

"Oh." Serah spoke with a forced laugh, she knew that Fang is a somewhat carefree woman but the wild look of hers always made her second guess her notions.

"Like I said: relax for once Ser. Your acting just like Light did when we first met." Fang called over her shoulder.

"So where do you think Lightning is?" Serah asked, worrying for her sister's safety, like always.

"Beats me, she can't be too far from here though." Fang replied with a wave of her hand. "How'd you two get separated anyway?" The Oerban asked, curiosity evident in her voice.

"I don't know." Serah admitted. "I just woke up and she was gone."

"What happened in there anyway?" Fang herself was surprised that it took herself this long to ask the question.

"Well um it's kinda hazy but Yaag turned on us, Light cut his finger off and we got in a fight with a big machine on top of the building." Serah recalled all of what she could remember.

"Oh man Light really needs to learn how to control her temper." Fang chuckled at the fact that Lightning had removed Yaag's finger from his hand.

"He he yeah she can be a hot head sometimes." Serah replied as her eyes frantically scanned the area. "Where's Snow?" She asked wondering why it was Fang who came and found her instead of her fiance.

"Off somewhere giving a hero speech." The dark haired woman answered non-chalantly as the two came to the corner of a building. "Seriously Serah what is wrong with him?" She asked turning back to face the younger girl.

"He just wants to be a hero is all." Serah answered like it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

"Right." Fang said doubtfully as she eyed Serah with her critical gaze.

"What? is it really that hard to believe?" Serah asked, truly confused about why Snow's hero disposition was so frowned upon.

"You know Serah, other then running around and saying "hero this hero that, I'm a hee-roh" Snow doesn't do many heroic things." Fang explained her reasoning.

"He just hasn't had the opportunity to be heroic yet." Serah defended her fiance's honor.

"Oh young, naive Serah." Fang tutted "there's been plenty of opportunities for Snow to be heroic, he's just too much of a pansy to seize the day. Actually you've been much more heroic than he has lately." Fang laughed at the thought of little Serah being more competent than Snow the giant.

"Hmm." Serah didn't know how to respond to that, seeing how it was true in every way. "So where are all the baddies? I thought there would be much more than what I've seen." Serah mused bringing her left hand to her chin in thought.

"Beats me. Hey maybe Snow's actually doing something heroic for once?" Fang asked before busting out in laughter. "Nah that can't be right."

"You really like to make fun of people huh." Serah pouted at the older woman as Fang ruffled her hair.

"Not really, just the idiots." Serah grumbled to herself rather then responding as the two rounded yet another corner.

"Then why do you tease Light?" She asked after a few moments of silence.

"Because it's fun." Was Fang's simple answer as Serah sighed in response. "Why doesn't Lightning tell us her real name already?"

"Because she doesn't want too, nor does she have too." Was the small girl's reply as Fang stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Why do you use words like nor?" Fang teased as Serah blushed.

"I just have a better vocabulary." Serah teased before peaking around the corner to see they had already made their way back to the airship. From the outside everything seemed to be okay as there were no soldiers present. However Lightning always told Serah that she shouldn't just dive into a situation without a plan, which the young girl found quite humorous since Snow was always saying that the true heroes didn't need plans. Serah I always followed her sister's logic and was starting to question whether Snow even believed himself when he said those things.

"Well I'll be damned if the language hasn't changed after more than five-hundred years." Fang muttered to herself.

"What's that?" _'She can hear everything. Just like her sister.' _Fang mused as Serah frowned up at her.

"Nothing." She replied off handedly. From their current location the two women were able to see Sazh still seated in the driver's seat of the airship. "Alright looks like the coast is clear." The tall Oerban spoke as she began making her way towards the airship. Serah followed her, hoping that her sister was already waiting inside for her.

* * *

"What a pain." Vanille groaned as she pulled her Binding Rod's wires out of a fallen corpse of a PSICOM soldier. She had gotten them so stuck that she had to kneel down beside the body and pry them free with her hands as opposed to the normal flick of the wrist which is normally all it would take.

"A very heroic victory, Vanille." Snow spoke as he pumped his fist into the air. He seemed to be ignoring the sour look on the young girl's face.

"If only it was more glamorous." Vanille groaned as she stood and placed her-now folded-rod onto her back. Snow laughed it off as he patted her shoulder before moving on. The two had heard gunfire coming from a network of alley ways behind the PSICOM building and had hurried over to find two groups of PSICOM soldiers battling one another. "Why do you think they would fight each other?" The red-head asked as she paused her skipping to turn in a circle to face Snow. The behemoth of a man looked down at her in thought before replying.

"I don't know, but it makes our job easier so it's nothing to worry about I suppose." The man mused, a hand brought up to his chin in thought.

"You know that's pretty much the exact opposite of what Lightning would say." The small Oerban said, hands planted firmly on her hips.

"You think I should be more like Light?" Snow laughed before abruptly stopping upon seeing the look on Vanille's face. "Never mind, don't answer that." The two continued making progress through the alleys without another word. After another five minutes they heard the tell tale sounds of gunfire coming from a few blocks away.

"Maybe we should be a little more quiet, and maybe I dunno come up with a plan this time." Vanille nudged Snow's shoulder as the two slowly made their way towards the lethal sounds. However as fast as it started it stopped. Snow frowned as he came to another corner. It had sounded like a whole brigade has been engaged in combat and yet somehow it had stopped with the drop of a dime.

"Very funny, Vanille." Snow said although there was no trace of amusement in his voice. "Wait here." The large man slowly rounded the corner and as soon as he did he stood stalk still, eyes widened to the size of saucers. Lightning was sitting, back against the wall one with her left knee brought up to her chest with her left arm resting on it. Her head was downcast, her bangs covering her eyes. The ground around the young woman was littered with the bodies of the soldiers who Snow had heard before. Some of the corpses were mutilated like some monster had gotten a hold of them. It was a gruesome site with blood spread everywhere, on the ground, up the walls, and yet Lightning remained untouched by the blood of her enemies. Snow tentatively made his way over to his future sister-in-law before bending down to her eye level.

"Lightning...are you alright?" He asked, he was physically shaken and his voice helped to prove it. The strawberry blond didn't reply, didn't make a move. She just stared lifelessly into the ground beneath her. Snow put his hand on her left shoulder and shook her a few times. Still no response. "Lightning-" He tried again, brushing her hair out of her eyes "are you alright?" This got a reaction out of the woman as she gazed up at him, blue eyes unfocused.

"Yes. I'm fine." Although her voice was firm, Snow could see the pain, confusion, and unawareness that was concealed beneath the piercing blue iris' of her eyes. Swiping his hand out of her way, Lightning stood on shaky legs before brushing past the blond man.

"So where's Serah?" Snow asked, small traces of worry lingered in his voice. Lightning froze at this, she had forgotten all about Serah in her fit of rage that had prompted her into brutally slaughtering the soldiers who had threatened to take her life. The fight itself had been brief and it had seemed as if she was watching herself fight from a distance. But now she was left with the question: where _was _Serah? she remembered waking up beside her beloved baby sister but she blacked out after entering the strange fit that had overcome her. And now here she was possibly miles away from Serah's last known location. But that was unlikely as both Snow and Vanille were present.

"I don't know." Lightning muttered, "it's my fault. I got carried away in eliminating the threat that I forgot all about her." Taking responsibility had never been a problem for Lightning. She had been brought up well by both her father-for what little time he was alive-and mother. And add to that her time spent in the military and you get one responsible young woman.

"Don't worry, Light, I'm sure she is well." Vanille's attempt to raise the young woman's spirit earned her a blank look in return. "And Fang's probably with her which is good. They're fine, trust me." This second attempt from the young girl worked as Lightning gave a small smile before continuing on past the red-head.

"So which way is the airship?" Lightning asked, impatiently turning to face her companions.

"Thataway!" Was Vanille's response before she went skipping past Lightning while giggling. With a sigh the strawberry blond turned to face the man who would be marrying her sister.

"Remind me why you had to bring that ball of sugar along with you." Lightning groaned bringing her right hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose, a sign of the woman's exasperation. Snow shrugged before trudging up to his future sister and patting her back, which stiffened in response.

"She insisted." Was the only answer he offered to give, but Lightning seemed to accept it as Vanille could be stubborn at times.

* * *

A half hour later Lightning, Snow and Vanille arrived back at the airship. Things were still cool on the home front with the area devoid of PSICOM activity. The trio hurried into the airship, promptly startling both Serah and Sazh at the sudden intrusion.

"Sis!" Serah cried happily as she rushed up to and hugged her big sister. Lightning closed her eyes, smiling lightly as she returned the embrace. "You're always worrying me like that." Serah whispered into Lightning's chest as she tightened her hold.

"Yeah, well I'm not immune to worry either, Serah." Lightning spoke softly into her sister's ear. Serah nodded her head before replying.

"I'm sorry sis, but when I woke up you weren't there."

"Sorry, I went to make sure everything was clear." Lightning replied in the same soft tone.

"Where to boss?" Sazh called from the drivers seat, "I'd rather not stick around in case more soldiers come around."

"Towards the Sunleth Waterscape." Lightning responded, letting go of Serah and turning to face the others.

"What are we doing at the Waterscape?" Snow asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"_We _aren't doing anything. I want you guys to stay here." Serah could once again see the pulsating blue in her sisters eyes, it invoked a chill from within her.

"No, we're you going with you Lightning." Snow put on his "hero-grin" as he pumped his fist. Lightning wasn't pleased.

"Will you drop your useless fucking hero complex already?" She snarled, grabbing the much larger man by the front of his shirt before punching him back onto the chair behind him.

"_Lightning!_" Serah scolded as she helped her fiance to his feet, "Why do you always push others away and try to do things by yourself?"

"I wouldn't have to do things myself if you were any more than a weak little girl. Ever since mom died you have been useless in just about everything. Nothing but a decoration on my wall." Lightning growled glaring down at her little sister. Serah, appalled buried her head into Snow's chest as he held her comfortingly.

"Geez Light, what's up with the sudden bi-polar disorder?" Fang asked as Lightning scoffed before drawing her Blazefire Saber.

"Everybody, get out." She said lowly, the sword in her hand was more than enough to usher everyone from the cockpit, with Snow still holding his jaw.

* * *

**Well here we are approaching the climax of the story. There will probably be maybe one or two more chapters following this one. I split this one into two parts so I could get a fresh start and get back into the swing of things. I've had these 4,000 words written since some time in the summer if I remember correctly :S **

**But yes, I wonder what's wrong with Lightning, has she gone insane? until next time, stay tuned to find out!**


	22. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

**Hey my fellow readers and writers, just a quick message today to let anyone who's still interested in the story know that I haven't forgotten about it. **

**Recent computer troubles, writer's block and personal problems have put my writing on hold for a while, but thanks to my best friend, who's encouraged me to keep writing, I'mma get back up on the horse.**

**So yes, expect the final chapter of Sisterly Love soon, followed by a short epilogue. And who knows, maybe even a sequel one day.**

**Special thanks go out to my BFF Sheldon, and all of you who have kept with the story so far =]**


	23. Chapter 20 Part Two: My Love For You

Sisterly Love Chapter 20 Part Two: My Love For You

Lightning stared at the shape of the quickly approaching Doppelganger ship as she quietly paced the width of her own vehicle. With the airship set to auto-pilot the young woman was able to lose herself in her thoughts. A sudden anger had taken over her body and soul a few hours prior when she had kicked her party from the ship. But now she was calm and regretting what she had said to Serah. But maybe there was some truth in her words that she refused to believe. No that couldn't be, Lightning would never have those thoughts about Serah, her only reason for living. Still, she was left pondering what had come over her. At first she couldn't remember what had happened, but it slowly became to come back to her half an hour into her flight.

The young woman sighed as she sank into driver's seat. What she was doing was crazy, that she knew. But still, as if an unknown force guided her, she couldn't turn back.

_'I just want to end all of this.'_

Lightning's airship continued towards the silhouette of the Doppelganger in the distance, the setting sun casting a large shadow over the face of Cocoon.

* * *

Security had been non-existent when Lightning boarded the aircraft, it left in unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. Grasping her necklace, Lightning drew her Blazefire Saber and continued onward towards the control room of the ship.

The halls were empty, no sign of security anywhere. The closer she got to the control room, the more nervous she felt, but as always Lightning pushed that queezy feeling aside, and focused on her goal. As long as she had a goal she could stay focused.

It was only a matter of minutes before Lightning arrived to the control room. It was large, an open metallic floor in a circular shape formed an almost arena like stage, the whole room was in the shape of a sphere with a translucent dome acting as the roof. The control room was abandoned, safe for a single throne perched upon a tall flight of stairs placed at the very back of the room, and upon that throne sat none other than Galenth Dysley, the Primarch of Cocoon.

"Welcome my child." The old man grinned as Lightning entered the room. Just the sound of his voice was enough to send shivers down her spine and back up again.

"You're here alone?" Lightning asked, not so much of a question but a statement. Dysley smirked in response.

"It depends on your definition of alone, my l'Cie." Dysley spoke knowingly. Lightning scoffed in disgust for how the man carried himself. "I must say, I am surprised that you didn't bring your band of misfits with you."

"I don't care for restraints." Lightning growled back.

"Is that so?" The old man smirked once more. "Let me acquaint you with a friend you've surely forgotten about by now." Dysley spoke as he slowly waved his scepter in slow circle, slowly forming a dark cloud of mist. Lightning strained her eyes in an attempt to see what was happening before her, but naturally failed to do so due to the opaque cloud. From within the dark cloud jumped a pale figure.

It was Lightning's doppelganger.

"Do you remember this finely crafted specimen?" The man asked, motioning towards the doppelganger with his scepter. "My dear Jihl was not the one responsible for its creation, she always did make a habit of taking credit for things that were not her own. This being her biggest farce. You see my dear l'Cie, this being is made not from man or machine. It is the very embodiment of your hate and rage, past and present, your dark side."

Lightning listened to the man as she regarded her doppelganger once again. 'So it looks like Cloud was unable to finish you off.' The young woman thought as she settled into her battle stance, bringing her left arm horizontally across her abdomen. Her clone took the same stance. And in a second the two had clashed swords, sparks flying from the equal power on each side. Lightning forced the Doppelganger upwards and landed a kick on it's stomach, sending it a few feet backwards. The strawberry blonde followed up her action by switching her weapon into gun mode and firing off a few rounds which her dark side avoided by rolling backwards, getting onto her feet in the process.

The deathly pale figure adorned a sickening smile before rushing back in towards it's opponent, with the flick of her wrist Lightning switched her gun back into it's sword form in time to block her opponents strike. Throwing her left hand forward, Lightning casted an aerora spell that threw her doppelganger up into the air. The young woman landed a flurry of blows as she leaped up after her double. Grabbing her manifested darkness by the ankle, Lightning threw it back into the floor, the doppelganger connecting with a sickening crack.

Behind the two, Dysley sat with a smug smirk on his wrinkled face. Watching the two engaged in their intricate war dance was highly amusing for the sovereign of the fal'Cie. He wanted the young woman to recognize her full power in fighting her double, testing her limits and strength to the max. And if she achieved that goal then he would grant her a power far beyond comprehension, a power that only has one equal in both the world of Cocoon and Gran Pulse. A power drawn straight from the invisible world, where mere man cannot go.

Landing shortly after her double, Lightning charged forward in an attempt to take it's head off. However her sword struck the metallic sword as the doppelganger was no longer there. Whirling to the right, Lightning was met with punch to the gut. Doubling over, Lightning gasped for breath, her chest heaving before receiving a kick to the chin, sending her sprawling onto her back. The dark Lightning was upon her in half a second-too fast for the young woman to even blink-it's sword across her throat. Lightning's eyes widened momentarily before quickly headbutting her attacker, however the doppelganger would not go so easily, as it stood it's ground. Lightning struggled to free herself but it was futile as her double was considerably stronger than expected.

Bringing it's left hand over to the pink haired woman's forehead, it began to channel it's energy into it's hand, which began to glow a pitch black color. Lightning's blue eyes widened as her double's hand was planted firmly onto her head. A searing pain shot through her at the contact, much like the creature's hand was a branding iron instead of a human hand. The energy that secreted from said hand was draining Lightning's energy, as if it was sucking on her very soul.

"Claire!" Out of the corner of her now blurred vision, Lightning could make out the silhouette of her kid sister, Serah. She felt a tug of fear pull at her heart due to the immediate danger that Serah now faced, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel a little comfort that Serah had gone out of her way to follow her, after what she had said to the poor kid. One thing was certain though; she was going to kill Snow after all of this was over. That was the last thought that entered her mind before she let out a pained cry and fell unconscious, her eyes rolling up into her head.

Serah gasped as her sister's body slumped, limply onto the floor. Gaze transfixed on the eerie double of her beloved guardian and older sister, Serah watched helplessly as the strange double dissipated into a black mist and entered Lightning's body through her nose and mouth. The scene sent a shiver down the younger Farron's spine as "Lightning's" body slowly stood and turned to face her. The once blue irises of her eyes now pale white in color.

"Excellent." Dysley spoke from his seat, he stood and started to make his way down to the two other occupants of the room. He stopped right in front of the youngest Farron, towering over little Serah.

* * *

"Dammit, Sazh! can't you go any faster!" Snow shouted at the older man, who was currently working feverishly with the Doppelganger's internal systems. Trying to sabotage the ship.

"Don't yell at me, boy. I'm not the one who let his girl go off to fight some crazy strong nasties by herself!" Sazh shouted back before pounding on the control panel. Snow sighed and waited a few minutes before replying.

"I didn't let Serah do anything. She just slipped away...she's fast, Sazh." The hulking man spoke sadly.

"Huh, all Farrons are." Sazh spoke with a small grunt as he continued tinkering with the central panel. "And this damn thing is just about as stubborn as Lightning is!"

"Oh get out of the way you, blowhards." Fang growled as she pushed both Snow and Sazh aside before decisively stabbing her Bladed Lance into the panel. "That's how you do it."

"Well I'll be, it worked." Sazh spoke in disbelief.

"Always so straight forward, Fang." Vanille shook her head at her friend.

"I know, genius of me, isn't it?" The older Oerban spoke proudly, jabbing her thumb into her chest.

"No. More like moronic." The three chorused. Fang deflated.

* * *

"Use this weapon, little one. And the resulting clash will be powerful enough to shake the very axis of Cocoon." Dysley spoke as he held out a pure white long sword adorned with a golden hilt and red gems. The blade was too white to be humanly possible and it shone with an equally as white aura. Serah gawked at the blade for a moment until hesitantly taking it from the old man. It wasn't quite as heavy as it looked as Serah could wield it with little trouble.

"Now strike down your sister." Serah felt a shiver run down her spine as "Lightning" continued to stare at her. Kill, sis? Serah brow creased as she pondered the old man's sanity. He couldn't possibly expect her to off her own sister, did he? Seeing the look the little Farron was giving him, Dysley continued. "She's lost now, Serah. The only way you can bring her back is to engage her in battle. And hope for Lightning's fighting spirit to return and take back her body." Should I believe him? He is a baddie after all. But do I even have a choice? "But alas, young Serah. The more you stall, the more she gets lost." Okay. Lies or not, I'll do it. If there's someone who can bring Claire back, it's me. With a resolute nod, Serah threw herself at her sister. Dysley grinned.

The Omega and Alpha Weapons clashed together with a loud bang as sparks erupted from both blades. Serah's nerves were on high alert as she fought to hold her own in the test of strength against her obviously much more capable and stronger sister. But Serah knew that if there was one thing she had on her side, it was willpower. Willpower and fear. The fear of losing her sister would prove as greater motivation to succeed than whatever was going through "Lightning's" mind. Serah was jarred from her thoughts when "Lightning" put more power behind her blade and sent the smaller girl flying onto her back. Serah groaned and slowly climbed back to her feet as she recovered from her fall. Eyes widening, she rolled to the side just in time to avoid her sister's strike. Going back onto the offensive Serah swung her blade in a wide arc in hopes of clipping her sister's shoulder. However, her maneuver was that of a beginner's and was too easy for her opponent to avoid. Missing her target completely, Serah was sent forward onto her stomach as "Lightning" kicked her back. Serah groaned and just laid there. She didn't know how much longer she could keep it up. Her big sister, her personal hero was too far out of her league for Serah to even compete. Serah squeezed her eyes shut as she felt a foot press into the small of her back and felt the sensation of cold steel pressed against the back of her neck.

"A shame. I was certain that you'd be able to overcome the odds." Dysley shook his head, disappointed. "Not even enough of a fight to rouse the Maker. Truly disappointing." Serah felt her opponents blade leave her neck, probably to bring it back down on her skull, the young girl mused. However, before the deed could be finished, the ship began to rumble, forcing "Lightning" to lose her balance. Taking advantage of the sudden distraction, Serah kicked her sister back and flipped out of harm's grasp. Her back flip wasn't quite as graceful as Lightning's trademark, but it would suffice. "What is the meaning of this!" Dysley demanded as he looked around in hopes of finding the cause of the ship's malfunction. _Now's my chance. _Serah thought, feeling a bold streak within her. Zooming past her sister, Serah ran towards Dysely. sword raised in hopes of cutting him down. Once she got a foot away from him, Serah launched herself into the air with a battle cry as she went to cleave her blade through the bastard's head. But she never got the chance as Dysley caught her in midair, around the throat. "Know this, young one. I don't give second chances." Those words were the last that Serah heard before darkness overcame her. But as she lost consciousness, she wasn't worried about her own safety, her thoughts were with her sister.

* * *

Lightning's eyes snapped to the right when she heard a soft thump. Her heart skipped a beat as she spotted Serah lying unconscious a few feet before Dysley. Lightning wasted no time in rushing over to her fallen sister. Kneeling beside Serah, Lightning found Serah's pulse and breathed a sigh of relief once she found that her kid sister was merely unconscious. Bending over, Lightning placed a small kiss to her sister's forehead before drawing her weapon and facing Dysley.

"You broke free by yourself? impressive..." Dysley waved his staff in Serah's direction before continuing, "but you have no choice, now finish her."

"Not all of us are easy to control, you know." Lightning spoke as she raised her sword.

"It appears so." Dysley replied before raising his staff. Lightning crouched into an offensive position before launching herself towards Dysley. The old man parried her attack swiftly, a little to quick for a man his age. Lightning swiped her sword at the man again, but Dysley called up a barrier that blocked the blow. As soon as Light's blade touched said barrier, it blew the young woman back with a small magical explosion. Lightning regained her wits and landed on her feet just in time to block his staff swing. Parrying the next blow, Lightning landed a hit across the old man's side, causing him to cringe.

"Hmph, you'll have to do better than that." He grunted as it was his turn to parry Lightning's next blow and land a counter-attack. The pink haired woman gritted her teeth as she absorbed the blow to her side. The strike was hard to enough to bruise her ribs but the adrenaline pumping through her sister made sure her mind didn't focus on the pain. Lightning performed a quick back flip to evade Dysley's follow up strike. Thrusting her left arm out, Light threw an assortment of fire, water and thunder spells at Dysley. The primarch brought up his barrier again to shield himself from said spells. Lightning, seeing Dysley's attention drawn to his defenses, charged forward and landed a few strikes of her own just as the man's shield dissipated, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Impressive." Dysley grunted, drawing himself into a kneeling position. "But you'll have to do better than that." Lightning took the time to survey her surroundings, Serah was to her left, far enough so she was out of harm's way, but the ship itself was still rumbling, possibly in a fast descent. The oldest Farron sister knew that she had to finish Dysley off quickly, for there was not much time remaining. Her thoughts were not on how they would escape, but ending the old man's life. "Time is short. Let's end this, shall we?" With that the man climbed to his feet, only to be met with Lightning's blade as he was forced to block. Lightning stepped back from the exchange and threw her arm out, casting a thundaga spell, bringing him to his knees once again, his staff clattering to the floor. Dysley looked up, eyes wide.

"I'll send you to meet your maker." Lightning spoke before before slashing the man across the chest, kicking him onto his back and stabbing him through the heart. Pulling her sword out of his body, Lightning rushed over to her unconscious sister. Kneeling down the young woman took her sister into her arms and stood. _'Interesting sword.' _She mused as her eyes locked onto the weapon.

"Fool, you shouldn't have dropped your guard so easily." Lightning spun around, eyes wide to see Dysley waving his staff in circular motions, producing a thick black fog before dropping to the floor.

"What the-" The young woman couldn't finish her sentence as the fog engulfed and rendered her unconscious.

* * *

Serah's eyes slowly fluttered open and quickly closed again as the shining sun hurt her eyes. '_Wait, the sun?' _She questioned. After waiting a few moments, Serah opened her eyes again to find herself staring at a clear blue sky, _'was it all a dream?' _Looking around, Serah saw that she was laying in a grassy field with nothing around as far as the eye could next thing that the eighteen year old noticed was the smell of smoke, sniffing the air a few times, Serah confirmed her initial conclusion and rolled onto her stomach. Pushing herself up onto all fours Serah crawled to the edge of cliff she rested on, she looked over the edge to see a smoking crater, with the remains of what looked to be the Doppelganger lying in the center. _'Wonder how long I've been out.' _Serah pondered briefly before a rustling sound snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Claire?" Serah asked as she slowly climbed to her feet, careful in case her knees buckled. "Sis, are you alright?" Serah asked, relieved to see her sister's body back to it's normal appearance. But still Serah kept her distance, there was something about Lightning that planted a seed of worry deep in her stomach. Maybe it was in her sister's posture? Lightning was standing with her back to Serah, looking out over the crater towards the sky with an unreadable expression on her face. If Serah had to take a guess she'd say that it was neutral, but there was something dark about it.

"Let's end this, Serah." Lightning spoke but Serah didn't understand.

"End what?" The younger sister asked, a deep frown setting in. She didn't like the sound of this.

"Everything."

"What do you mean?" Serah asked taking her first steps towards her sister.

"There's not much time left, look-" Lightning held out her right arm and Serah could see the first signs of a crystal barrier beginning to encase her arm. "I'm turning to crystal, you are too." Serah took a look at her own arm and could see the same effect taking place. "This is our last chance, Serah. Dylsey's dead, but he still holds control over my body. Soon I will become hostile again, you have to beat me." Lightning explained.

"No." Serah shook her head, she thought this conflict with her sister was over. She didn't want to engage her in battle again, she didn't want one of them to get hurt after all they've gone through.

"Rid me of this presence so I can rest peacefully. I know you can do it, here." Bringing her left arm into view Lightning tossed Serah the Alpha Weapon, the young girl caught it reluctantly. "I believe in you. I love you, Serah." Lightning's eyes only held a hint of sadness in their depths, the confidence in her sister outweighed it by a large margin.

"I love you too, Claire." Serah replied quietly.

"Chin up. You're a Farron, we don't cower in fear."

"...Right." Serah gave a resolute nod and fixed her gaze on her sister just as her hostility returned, as predicted. Wasting no time, Serah dashed forwards swinging the Alpha Weapon at her sister, who managed to draw the Omega Weapon in time, locking their swords together. Knowing that she was easily outmatched in terms of strength (and everything else for that matter, even speed) Serah kneed her sister in the stomach and spun to her left, managing to land a hit across Lightning's back. It appeared that "Berserk Lightning" didn't retain her sister's fighting prowess and intelligence, Serah'd have to take advantage of that if she is to be successful. Lightning recovered quickly, performing a blitz maneuver that caught Serah off guard, knocking her onto her back. Serah stared up, eyes wide as Lightning brought her sword down. Barely managing to get her own up in defense, Serah recovered and flipped the young woman over her.

_'So how exactly am I supposed to rid sis of this presence? Does my sword somehow cleanse her body of evil spirits or some magic mumbo jumbo? I can't keep hurting her if I'm not even going about it the right way. And I'm on a time limit, I can already feel my right arm getting colder. I wonder how long I'll be able to wield my sword for, and if this is effecting Claire's battle ability as well.'_

Again the Farron sisters blades clashed together, but this time Serah was overpowered and struck across her left ribs. Letting out a pained cry, Serah was struck again across her stomach as Lightning followed up with another strike. The searing pain caused spots to appear in Serah's vision as she was hit yet again, this time across her left bicep. Dropping to her knees with ragged breath, Serah watched the ground as Lightning's imposing shadow covered the ground before her. Next her eyes flicked to the Alpha Weapon where she scrutinized the blade, hoping to find some hidden secret to it. It took a few moments until it registered in her mind, there was something off with the base of the blade, just before the hilt. Snatching the blade with her right hand, Serah pushed herself up with her left and performed a quick cartwheel backwards that ended with her landing in a crouch on her right knee with her left leg extended to giver her stability. Serah jabbed her thumb into an odd nodule on the sword and watched in amazement as it transformed into a bow. Luck was on her side. Remembering her archery lessons, Serah took aim and fired a single arrow that struck dangerously close to Lightning's sword hand, but due to her accuracy the arrow struck the hilt of the blade and sent the Omega Weapon flying from her grasp where it landed a good ten feet away. Switching the Alpha Weapon back into it's sword form and ran towards her sister, using her momentum Serah succeeded in tackling Lightning onto the ground. After tumbling a over each other a few times, their roll ended with Serah on top. Dropping her sword, Serah gave an apologetic look to her sister even though she knew Lightning wouldn't see it, she couldn't help it, it's in her nature.

"Sorry sis, but I can't have you using that weapon anymore." Serah spoke before grabbing Lightning's right wrist and swifting breaking it. Lightning cried out and rolled onto her side, cradling her wrist after throwing Serah off. Serah recovered quickly, grabbing her sword before rushing over to the Omega Weapon. "I hope I'm right about this..." She muttered as she raised the Omega Weapon in her left hand. Tossing the blade up, she took in a breath and as it descended Serah swung the Alpha Weapon, cutting clean through the Omega Weapon. Now cut in two, the Omega Weapon fell to the earth with a thud. A sudden gasp from Lightning caught Serah's attention, looking up she could see Lightning's examining her wrist, and her arms as they were now encased in crystal, though she was still able to move them.

"Claire!" Serah cried out as she rushed to her sister's side, dropping the Alpha Weapon in the progress. "Sis are you okay?" Serah asked, worry evident in her voice, though she also felt relief flooding through her. The destruction of the Omega Weapon had broken the hold that Dysley's spell held over Lightning.

"I knew you could do it." Lightning smiled as she looked up into Serah's eyes. "Though I'd have preferred if you didn't break my wrist." She chuckled after Serah muttered a quick 'sorry'.

"You're turning to crystal." Serah stated.

"So are you. But it's okay, we'll be fine. Our focus is complete, we have nothing more to worry about." Light smiled again as she climbed to one knee before snapping her wrist back in place.

"What about the others? they were on the ship as well..." Serah looked down dejected.

"I wouldn't worry about them, Serah. They're too stubborn to die. Especially Snow." Serah giggled at that but quickly saddened as the thought of leaving Snow behind hit her. "Hey I told you not to worry, we'll see them again, just be patient." Lightning chastised her sister lightly.

"You're right, we're together. And that's what counts." Serah smiled as the rest of her body began freezing over in crystal. "Love you, Claire."

"I love you too, Serah." Lightning replied hugging Serah as the rest of their bodies became covered in crystal, freezing them in that position for their eternal slumber.

* * *

**A/N: Well that does it for this story, my first complete one! I've decided against doing an epilogue for reasons only I know. I apologize for the extremely long delay, I didn't think it would take this long, damn writer's block, and to be honest I was just lazy. But luckily I found my rhythm again and finish this off the past night! I'm sure this chapter seems inconsistent, that would be because different portions of it were written months apart, but yeah I just wanted to get it done and out of the way.**

**But that does it for Sisterly Love, I had fun writing this story and for being my first I think it turned out well despite it's flaws. I originally had quite a few other plot points to add in but felt that the story was dragging on and it was best to end it early. That said I got a new big adventure story in the works, already have the first chapter done! (which is about 5,200 words) so be sure to read that one if you enjoyed this one!**

**As always, thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review with constructive criticism!**

**This chapter and story as a whole is dedicated to my loving Sheldon, thanks for all your support! **


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